Gail Patrick

Gail Patrick

A tall, slender, patrician beauty, Gail Patrick, Samford (AL)- Alpha Pi, received her B.A. degree and became the Dean of Women at Howard College where she, by chance, was a finalist in a nationwide contest that sent her to Hollywood. There the studio felt her given name (Margaret Fitzpatrick) was too long and changed it to Gail Patrick. She was groomed for bit parts and moved steadily upward to co-star or play a leading lady. She played opposite some of the major stars of the 1930s and 1940s, namely Cary Grant, Bing Crosby, William Powell and Katharine Hepburn. Gail retired from motion pictures after making more than 50 movies. When the famous Perry Mason stories were brought to television, the author, Erle Stanley Gardner, requested that Gail be the series' Executive Producer, making her one of the first female producers in the television industry. Gail was the 1962 Woman of the Year.