Patricia Knight

This hazel-eyed knockout was born Marjorie Heintzen on April 28, 1915 (although several sources list her birth date as either 1918 or 1920). Her Bostonian father was a leather broker and Patricia received her formal education at a private school. An early interest in the arts had her abandoning her studies at the tender age of 14 with the intention of securing an acting/modeling career. She headed for New York where she earned some dancing parts in New York shows as well as roles in such plays as "No War in Troy" and "Here Come the Clowns." She met rising actor Cornel Wilde in 1936 at a booking agent's office and married him the following year following an appearance in the Broadway play "Sea Legs." They went on to appear together in the off-Broadway play "Moon Over Mulberry Street" in 1938 and, following a part in the musical smash "Dubarry Was a Lady," earned a small role in the prestigious Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh Broadway production of "Romeo and Juliet" in which husband Wilde both played Tybalt and choreographed the dueling scenes. Following a tragic miscarriage, Patricia bore a healthy daughter, Wendy, in 1943. Following her husband's meteoric rise to film stardom with his Oscar-nominated role as composer Chopin in A Song to Remember (1945), Patricia began to pursue films as well with his help. His desire to cast her opposite him in Forever Amber (1947) failed, but it did spark interest in her and she made her debut with Roses Are Red (1947) despite the fact that she had no film training. As a platinum blonde Patricia photographed beautifully in her second film The Fabulous Texan (1947) but found her most noticeable work steaming up the proceedings opposite Wilde himself in Shockproof (1949). In the meantime, the volatile Wilde proved to be an extremely jealous husband and constant source of interference when it came to controlling her career. After more than a few tumultuous breakups, they separated for good and she met and fell in love with Danish skating champion/sometime actor Nils Larsen. They married a few days after her August 30, 1951 divorce from Wilde. Without Wilde's influence, however, Patricia's career dissolved. After prime roles in The Second Face (1950) and The Magic Face (1951), she was finished -- after only five movie parts. She and her second husband lived in Spain for many years, returning to the States in 1969, two years before Larsen's death. Her third husband was building advisor David Wright who died in 1996. Patricia passed away in Hemet, California on October 26, 2004.