Patricia Dane
Patricia Dane
. Patricia Dane (August 4, 1919 – June 5, 1995) was an American film actress of the 1940s. Born Thelma Patricia Ann Byrnes-Gray in Jacksonville, Florida, she began her career designing clothes for a New York City dress firm. She was signed to an MGM contract in 1941 and is sometimes known as Pat Dane in films. Dane's earliest appearances were two uncredited roles in Ziegfeld Girl and I'll Wait For You (both 1941). She played the part of "Jennitt Hicks" in Life Begins For Andy Hardy and her well-received performance earned her a long-term contract. Dane played "Garnet" in Johnny Eager (1942) directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The film starred Robert Taylor and Lana Turner. Dane received favorable press for her acting in Grand Central Murder (1942), in which she was billed second to Van Heflin. Dane took a break from her film career when she married bandleader Tommy Dorsey; the marriage lasted from April 1943 to September 1947. Dane was every bit as forthright and exhibitionistic as Dorsey, and Dorsey loved to show her off to friends, according to Dorsey biographer Peter J. Levinson. Her MGM contract lapsed in 1945. Following her divorce from Dorsey, she resumed her movie career at the low-budget Monogram Pictures studio (Joe Palooka in Fighting Mad, 1948). Dane appeared in two television roles for Fireside Theater and Flight Thirteen, both 1951.
