Lorna Patterson

Lorna Patterson
Born	(1956-07-01) July 1, 1956 (age 68) Whittier, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1979–1993

Lorna Patterson (born July 1, 1956) ^[1] is an American retired film, stage and television actress. As an actress, her best-known roles were as Randy, the singing stewardess, in Airplane! , and as the lead in the television series Private Benjamin .

Biography

Patterson was born in Whittier, California, ^[1] where she attended Rio Hondo College for a single semester. Patterson began her professional career while still in high school, performing melodrama at The Bird Cage Theatre at Knott's Berry Farm. ^[2]

Career

She is a founding member of the Musical Theatre Guild and has appeared in many stage musicals. ^[3]

She played Randy, the blonde stewardess in the 1980 comedy Airplane! . She co-starred with Tony Randall in the 1981 television pilot Sidney Shorr: A Girl's Best Friend. By the time this became the television series Love, Sidney , she had won the lead role in the 1981–1983 television version of the film Private Benjamin , so her Sidney Shorr role was played in Love, Sidney by Swoosie Kurtz. Earlier, she had been a regular on two short-lived series, Working Stiffs and Goodtime Girls . ^[4] She also played Liz Drever in 1984, in The Flying Doctors , episodes 2, 3 and 4, in Australia.

Patterson has also lent her voice to some animated productions including the TV series Timeless Tales from Hallmark , the direct to video film Joseph and his Brothers from The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible , the English dub of the Japanese anime film Ultraman: The Adventure Begins and the Christmas special Nick & Noel.

Personal life

Patterson converted to Judaism a few years after marrying Lembeck (his faith). ^{[5] [6]} In 2009 she received her cantorial ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion in Los Angeles. ^[7]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	Working Stiffs	Nikki Evashevsky	Main cast (8 episodes)
1979	Lou Grant	Girl	Episode: "Samaritan"
1979	Beane's of Boston	Shirley Brahms	TV pilot episode
1979	The Lovebirds	Janine Burley	TV film
1980	Goodtime Girls	Betty Crandall	Main cast (13 episodes)
1980	Angie	Sissy	Episode: "Angie and Brad's Close Encounter"
1980	Airplane!	Randy	Feature film
1981–83	Private Benjamin	Pvt. Judy Benjamin	Main cast (39 episodes)
1981	Sidney Shorr: A Girl's Best Friend	Laurie Morgan	TV film
1984	Hawaiian Heat	Alexis	Episode: "Yankees vs. the Cubs"
1984	The Impostor	Julie	TV film
1985	The Flying Doctors	Liz Drever	TV miniseries
1987	Ultraman: The Adventure Begins	Susan Rand (voice)	TV film
1987	Hotel	Nancy Stanton	Episode: "Revelations"
1989	Murder, She Wrote	Edie Lorraine	Episode: "The Search for Peter Kerry"
1990	Timeless Tales from Hallmark		Episode: "Rumpelstiltzkin"
1990	The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible		Episode: "Joseph and His Brothers"
1991	Major Dad	Sgt. Tammi Rae Perkins	Episode: "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Perky"
1993	Basic Values: Sex, Shock & Censorship in the 90's		TV film
1993	Nick & Noel	Leslie (voice)	TV film

References

1. Brant, Marley (2006). Happier Days: Paramount Television's Classic Sitcoms, 1974-1984. Billboard Books. p. 200. ISBN   9780823089338.
2. Johna Blinn, "Cooking Chinese Is Fun For Private Benjamin Star", The Palm Beach Post , May 21, 1981.
3. "Lorna Patterson, Founding Member" Archived 2014-08-19 at the Wayback Machine , Musical Theatre Guild (accessed 2014-08-18).
4. Dan Lewis, "Lorna Patterson Salutes Private Benjamin'", Sarasota Journal , September 2, 1981.
5. The Long Way Home | Issue 7 | American Jewish University ( AJULA ) formerly University of Judaism, archived by the Wayback Machine here.
6. Melonie Magruder, "From stewardess to cantor", The Malibu Times , May 20, 2009.
7. "Cantor Lorna Lembeck" Archived 2014-08-10 at the Wayback Machine , Academy for Jewish Religion (California) (accessed 2014-08-06).

External links

• Lorna Patterson at IMDb