Micheline Patton
# Micheline Patton

Micheline Patton (1912 – 30 June 2001) was an Irish actress who worked on radio, stage and television from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s.

## Biography

Micheline Elizabeth Patton was born in Belfast in 1912, and died on 30 June 2001 in Godalming, Surrey. Her father was Billy Patton, a surgeon. She went to school in Malvern Girls' College, and studied Modern History at St Hugh's College, Oxford, graduating in 1935. One of her cousins was the Irish playwright, BBC producer and war correspondent Denis Johnston.

## Radio

Between 1935 and 1947, Patton read several short stories for BBC Radio, including works by Katherine Mansfield, Anton Chekhov, and Helen Colvill. She acted in radio plays, including playing the role of Winifred in the 1947 BBC Radio adaptation of In Chancery from The Forsyte Saga.

## Television

Patton acted in early BBC television broadcasts. In December 1937, she appeared in a backless dress in the final episode of the early fashion documentary Clothes-Line. Patton was viewed from behind, giving an illusion of nudity, which led to outraged viewers writing in to complain. The episode was titled Grandmamma Looks Back, inspiring the copresenter Pearl Binder's quip, "Grandmamma looks back but Micheline has no back to be seen."

| Clothes-Line | (9 Dec 1937) | |
| - | - | - |
| Producer | Mary Adams | Mary Adams |
| The grand-mother | Nesta Sawyer | Nesta Sawyer |
| The grand-daughter | Micheline Patton | Micheline Patton |
| The album by | Pearl Binder | Pearl Binder |
| The diary by | James Laver | James Laver |

She went on to appear in a November 1938 adaptation of Robert J. Flaherty's book The Captain's Chair (produced as The Last Voyage of Captain Grant).

| The Last Voyage of Captain Grant | (9 Nov 1938) | |
| - | - | - |
| A narrative of the Arctic based upon Robert Flaherty's novel The Captain's Chair, adapted for television and produced by Denis Johnston. The narration will be spoken by the author, Robert Flaherty. | A narrative of the Arctic based upon Robert Flaherty's novel The Captain's Chair, adapted for television and produced by Denis Johnston. The narration will be spoken by the author, Robert Flaherty. | A narrative of the Arctic based upon Robert Flaherty's novel The Captain's Chair, adapted for television and produced by Denis Johnston. The narration will be spoken by the author, Robert Flaherty. |
| Writer/narrator | Robert Flaherty | Robert Flaherty |
| Adapted for television and produced by | Denis Johnston | Denis Johnston |
| Captain Grant | John Laurie | John Laurie |
| Catlin | David Marsh | David Marsh |
| McDougall | Graveley Edwards | Graveley Edwards |
| Timmins | Rupert Siddons | Rupert Siddons |
| The Factor | Cyril Gardiner | Cyril Gardiner |
| Quartermaster | William Heilbronn | William Heilbronn |
| First Director | Douglas Allen | Douglas Allen |
| Second Director Steward | Guy Glover | Guy Glover |
| Third Director Second Officer | Ian Aylmer | Ian Aylmer |
| Chairman Second Factor | John Thompson | John Thompson |
| Girl | Micheline Patton | Micheline Patton |

and in July 1939, a drama based on the Parnell Commission.

| The Parnell Commission | (18 Jul 1939) | |
| - | - | - |
| A reconstruction of the famous forgery investigation of 1888–89 | A reconstruction of the famous forgery investigation of 1888–89 | A reconstruction of the famous forgery investigation of 1888–89 |
| Producer | Denis Johnston | Denis Johnston |
| Piggott | Eliot Makeham | Eliot Makeham |
| Sir Charles Russel | Felix Aylmer | Felix Aylmer |
| Parnell | Mark Dignam | Mark Dignam |
| Attorney General | Wilfrid Walter | Wilfrid Walter |
| Eye Witness | Brefni O'Rorke | Brefni O'Rorke |
| Mrs O'Shea | Olga Edwardes | Olga Edwardes |
| President of the Court | Graveley Edwards | Graveley Edwards |
| Timothy Harrington | Blake Giffard | Blake Giffard |
| Doctor Maguire | Nigel Fitzgerald | Nigel Fitzgerald |
| Henniker Heaton | Lionel Dymoke | Lionel Dymoke |
| Frank Hugh O'Donnell | Harry Hutchinson | Harry Hutchinson |
| Court Registrar | Leo McCabe | Leo McCabe |
| Captain O'Shea | Charles Oliver | Charles Oliver |
| Friend | Micheline Patton | Micheline Patton |
| Servant at Eltham | Moya Devlin | Moya Devlin |
| Solicitor's Clerk | Russell Hogarth | Russell Hogarth |
| Spanish Policeman | Rafael Terry | Rafael Terry |
| Reporter Houston's Voice | Kenneth Barton | Kenneth Barton |
| [Actor] | Jack Clifford | Jack Clifford |

In 1947 Patton had a small role in Weep for the Cyclops, a biographical 1947 television drama on Jonathan Swift, which was written and produced by her cousin Denis Johnston.

| Weep for the Cyclops | (21 Aug 1947) | |
| - | - | - |
| The true history of Dr. Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin | The true history of Dr. Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin | The true history of Dr. Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin |
| Writer / Producer | Denis Johnston | Denis Johnston |
| Setting | Barry Learoyd | Barry Learoyd |
| Jonathan Swift | Fred O'Donovan | Fred O'Donovan |
| Esther Johnson (Stella) | Joyce Heron | Joyce Heron |
| Esther Vanhomrigh (Vanessa) | Muriel Pavlow | Muriel Pavlow |
| Charles Ford | Godfrey Kenton | Godfrey Kenton |
| Dr Berkeley | Ivan Samson | Ivan Samson |
| Rebecca Dingley | Jean Anderson | Jean Anderson |
| Richard Brennan | Harry Fine | Harry Fine |
| Rev Mr Tisdall | Stuart Latham | Stuart Latham |
| John Gay | Oliver Burt | Oliver Burt |
| Mrs Vanhomrigh | Marjorie Gresley | Marjorie Gresley |
| Moll Vanhomrigh | Ursula Harby | Ursula Harby |
| A curate | John Chandos | John Chandos |
| First trollop | Sally Travers | Sally Travers |
| Second trollop | Micheline Patton | Micheline Patton |

Patton's final recorded BBC appearance was in 1958, with a role in The Ordeal of Christabel Pankhurst.

| The Ordeal of Christabel Pankhurst | (4 Jun 1958) | |
| - | - | - |
| Written by Arthur Swinson in which television brings you great moments of history with the news coverage of today. | Written by Arthur Swinson in which television brings you great moments of history with the news coverage of today. | Written by Arthur Swinson in which television brings you great moments of history with the news coverage of today. |
| Writer | Arthur Swinson | Arthur Swinson |
| Designer | Stephen Bundy | Stephen Bundy |
| Producer | Michael Mills | Michael Mills |
| News Editor | Frank Owen | Frank Owen |
| News Reporter | Francis Williams | Francis Williams |
| News Reporter | Raymond Baxter | Raymond Baxter |
| [Actor] | Tony Britton | Tony Britton |
| Christabel Pankhurst | Sarah Lawson | Sarah Lawson |
| [Actor] | Elwyn Brook-Jones | Elwyn Brook-Jones |
| [Actor] | Leslie Perrins | Leslie Perrins |
| [Actress] | Marian Spencer | Marian Spencer |
| [Actress] | Edna Morris | Edna Morris |
| [Actor] | Alfred Burke | Alfred Burke |
| [Actress] | Christine Lindsay | Christine Lindsay |
| [Actor] | Jack Stewart | Jack Stewart |
| [Actress] | Olga Dickie | Olga Dickie |
| [Actress] | Micheline Patton | Micheline Patton |
| [Actress] | Hazel Jennings | Hazel Jennings |

## Theatre

Patton's best received role was probably as Emily Brontë in The Brontës, by Alfred Sangster, produced by the Sheffield Repertory Company. She played this role from 1946–1949, receiving generally good notices. in 1946 a reviewer for the Brontë Society noted that Patton was so "exceptionally good that one suspected (perhaps too artlessly) a spiritual affinity. What strength that pale, frigid face reflected!" A reviewer for Punch commented on the "interesting" Patton's ability to "suggest dark churnings of the soul." Less enthusiastically, in 1947, a reviewer for Theatre World commented "Micheline Patton does all that could be done with her material," calling the part "poorly written."

### 1936 on the London stage

* Stubble Before Swords at Globe
* A Bride for the Unicorn at Westminster Theatre

### 1940 in Dublin

* Roly Poly (Boule de Suif) was withdrawn under Wartime Emergency Legislation (1745 Act).

### 1941 in Belfast

* The Passing of the Third Floor Back (Jerome K. Jerome) was concurrent with the first Luftwaffe air-raid

### 1944–1945 in various provincial Scottish theatres

* Dundee Repertory Theatre
   * The Patsy
   * The Housemaster
   * A Soldier for Christmas
   * Seven Bottles for the Maestro
* Perth Repertory Theatre
   * Charley's Aunt
   * Androcles and the Lion
   * Caste
   * Hamlet
   * Sheppey

### 1946 English provincial theatre

* Bristol Old Vic
   * Weep for the Cyclops

### 1946–1949 Sheffield Repertory Theatre and touring – most saliently, St James Theatre London

* The Brontes

### 1949 London Players

* Aftermath

### 1950 St James Theatre

* Venus Observed

### 1951 Citizens Theatre Glasgow

* As You Like It

### 1954 Hythe Summer Theatre

* The Powder Magazine

### 1957 Piccadilly Theatre

* The Rape of the Belt

### 1960 Richmond Theatre

* Gracious Living

## Film

Patton appeared as Mrs. Broome in The Yellow Teddy Bears in 1963.

