Lorna Patterson

Last updated
Lorna Patterson
Born (1956-07-01) July 1, 1956 (age 68)
OccupationActress
Years active1979–1993
Spouse(s) Robert Ginty
(m. 1983; div. 1989)
(m. 1990)
Children2

Lorna Patterson (born July 1, 1956) [1] is a retired American 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 .

Contents

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 was married to actor Robert Ginty. Patterson worked with Ginty's first wife, Francine Tacker in the 1980 series Goodtime Girls, which also starred Annie Potts and Georgia Engel. She is currently married to actor/director Michael Lembeck, and the couple have two children.

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

YearTitleRoleNotes
1979 Working Stiffs Nikki EvashevskyMain cast (8 episodes)
1979 Lou Grant GirlEpisode: "Samaritan"
1979Beane's of BostonShirley BrahmsTV pilot episode
1979The LovebirdsJanine BurleyTV film
1980 Goodtime Girls Betty CrandallMain cast (13 episodes)
1980 Angie SissyEpisode: "Angie and Brad's Close Encounter"
1980 Airplane! RandyFeature film
1981–83 Private Benjamin Pvt. Judy BenjaminMain cast (39 episodes)
1981 Sidney Shorr: A Girl's Best Friend Laurie MorganTV film
1984 Hawaiian Heat AlexisEpisode: "Yankees vs. the Cubs"
1984The ImpostorJulieTV film
1985 The Flying Doctors Liz DreverTV miniseries
1987 Ultraman: The Adventure Begins Dr. Susan Rand (voice)TV film
1987 Hotel Nancy StantonEpisode: "Revelations"
1989 Murder, She Wrote Edie LorraineEpisode: "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 PerkinsEpisode: "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Perky"
1993Basic Values: Sex, Shock & Censorship in the 90'sTV film
1993Nick & NoelLeslie (voice)TV film

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References

  1. 1 2 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).