Patricia Cutts

Patricia "Pat" Cutts (20 July 1926 – 6 September 1974)[3] was an English film and television actress. She was the first person to portray the character of Blanche Hunt in ITV soap opera Coronation Street, appearing in two episodes. After her death, Maggie Jones took over the role.

Patricia Cutts
Cutts as Milady de Winter and Maximilian Schell as D'Artagnan in a 1960 television production of The Three Musketeers.
Born(1926-07-20)20 July 1926
London, England, UK
Died6 September 1974(1974-09-06) (aged 48)
London, England, UK
Cause of deathSuicide
Other namesPat Cutts
Patricia Wayne
Years active1946-1975
Spouse(s)William Nichols (1962-1963) (divorced)[1]
John Findlay[2]
ChildrenNicholas Baker-Findlay

Biography

Born in London, she was the daughter of the writer-director Graham Cutts.[4] Her first roles were small parts in British films, and then from 1958 in American movies and television shows. From 1958 she appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Perry Mason, where she played defendant Sylvia Oxman in the 1959 episode, "The Case of the Dangerous Dowager" and murderer Ann Eldridge in the 1966 episode, "The Case of the Bogus Buccaneers". She continued to work consistently in film and television on both sides of the Atlantic throughout the 1950s, including a small appearance in North by Northwest.

As a young actress in 1959, she appeared on Groucho Marx's quiz show You Bet Your Life with football coach Jack Curtice as her co-contestant.[5] She was a regular panellist on the hit DuMont quiz Down You Go and starred alongside Vincent Price in The Tingler.[6] In 1958 she appeared in the film Merry Andrew, starring Danny Kaye. In the 1960s, she made guest appearances on such television shows as The Lucy Show, Car 54, Where Are You?, Adventures in Paradise and Playhouse 90.

Cutts (at left) with Ann Todd and Angela Lansbury from a 1959 Playhouse 90 production.

After several quiet years she returned to the UK and was in the 1972 British television series Spyder's Web before accepting the role of Blanche Hunt in the top rated ITV soap opera Coronation Street in 1974.[7] It would have been her most high-profile regular role to date but after appearing in only two episodes, Cutts was found dead at her London flat, aged 48. An inquest into her death produced a verdict of suicide by barbiturate poisoning.[8] The role of Blanche Hunt was taken over by Maggie Jones, who played the part until she died on 2 December 2009.[9]

Selected filmography
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References
  1. "Patricia Cutts - the Private Life and Times of Patricia Cutts. Patricia Cutts Pictures".
  2. "Patricia Cutts - the Alfred Hitchcock Wiki".
  3. Patricia Cutts' profile, ftvdb.bfi.org.uk; accessed 25 January 2016.
  4. Black, Anita (23 April 1965). "If the Shoe Fits..." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  5. AllegroMediaMovies. "Episode #28, 15 April 1951". You Bet Your Life. 13:34: NBC-TV. Retrieved 30 December 2013.CS1 maint: location (link)
  6. "Milestones". Time. 23 September 1974. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  7. Foster, Paul (28 January 1972). "Busy time for George (80)". Evening Times. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  8. Frasier, David K. (March 2005). Suicide in the Entertainment Industry: An Encyclopedia of 840 Twentieth Century Cases. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 73. Archived at Google Books.
  9. "Maggie Jones". The Daily Telegraph. 2 December 2009. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
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