Eileen Cecilia[citation needed] "Patricia" Collinge (September 20, 1892 – April 10, 1974) was an Irish-American actress and writer. She was best known for her stage appearances, as well as her roles in the films The Little Foxes (1941) and Shadow of a Doubt (1943). She was nominated for an Academy Award and won a NBR Award for The Little Foxes.
Collinge first appeared on the stage in 1904 in Little Black Sambo and Little White Barbara at the Garrick Theatre in London. She immigrated to the United States with her mother in 1907. Soon after, she appeared as a flower girl in The Queens of the Moulin Rouge (1908) [1] and as a supporting player in The Thunderbolt (1910) starring Louis Calvert, which was staged at the New Theatre (Century Theatre).[2]
Patricia Collinge in the Broadway production of Pollyanna (1916)
Collinge toured in A Regular Businessman, was the original Pollyanna Whittier in Pollyanna, and toured with Tillie in 1919. In 1932, she appeared in Autumn Crocus. Her acting was acclaimed by a New York Times critic, who wrote, "Miss Collinge plays with the soft, pliant sincerity that makes her one of the most endearing actresses."[citation needed]
She was a member of the original Broadway cast of The Little Foxes with Tallulah Bankhead as the lead in 1939, playing the role of the tragic Birdie Hubbard. In 1941, she played the same part in the motion picture version, which starred Bette Davis. Other stage work included roles in productions of The Heiress,Just Suppose,The Dark Angel,The Importance of Being Earnest,To See Ourselves, and Lady with a Lamp. Her final stage appearance came in December 1952 in I've Got Sixpence[6] at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
According to the featurette included with the DVD of Shadow of a Doubt,[citation needed] Collinge rewrote the scene that takes place in the garage between Teresa Wright and Macdonald Carey, since Director Alfred Hitchcock and the actors were unhappy with the dialogue. Hitchcock was delighted with her work and used it in the film. She also worked with Alma Reville (Hitchcock's wife) and Ben Hecht on the screenplay for Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944), which also starred Tallulah Bankhead.[citation needed]
Collinge wrote the play Dame Nature (1938), an adaptation of a French drama by André Birabeau, in addition to some short stories for The New Yorker, and contributed to The New York Times Book Review.[7] She also wrote The Small Mosaics of Mr. and Mrs. Engel, a travelogue that earned her a gold medal from the Italian government, and The B.O.W.S., which she co-authored with Margalo Gillmore.[8]
