Boots Mallory | |
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Mallory in 1934
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Born |
Patricia Mallory October 22, 1913 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
Died | December 1, 1958 Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
(aged 45)
Cause of death | chronic throat disease & lung cancer |
Resting place | Chapel Of The Pines Crematory, Los Angeles |
Years active | 1932–1938 |
Spouse(s) |
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Children | Jill Simpson Stephen Cagney |
Patricia "Boots" Mallory (October 22, 1913 – December 1, 1958) was an American film actress, dancer and model.
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Mallory grew up in Mobile, Alabama, attended Murphy High School, and was working in the Lyric Theater as an usherette when the Ziegfeld Follies came to Mobile. Ziegfeld offered her a spot in his show. She eventually travelled to New York City where she made a strong impression in the Broadway production of the Ziegfeld Follies of 1931.
Moving to Hollywood, she found employment with Fox Films and was cast in the film version of Dawn Powell's play Walking Down Broadway. This was the first sound film by Erich von Stroheim. He shared both screenwriting and directing credits and regarded Mallory as his discovery. The play told the story of a young unmarried woman involved in a love triangle who becomes pregnant. The finished film, however, strongly suggested a lesbian relationship between Mallory's character and the character played by ZaSu Pitts. Other sexual themes involving the character played by James Dunn were considered too daring. Fox executives brought in director Alfred L. Werker to drastically cut Von Stroheim's version and to shoot additional scenes. The film was finally released under the new title Hello, Sister! (1933) with little promotion and was not a success. Von Stroheim's original version was neither copyrighted nor released, and is considered lost.
In 1932 her second completed film, Handle with Care, also co-starring James Dunn, was released and marked her debut. It was well received and Mallory was chosen as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars of 1932, but the extensive media publicity surrounding her WAMPAS recognition, was undermined by the poor reception given to Hello, Sister! when it was finally released.