Pat Kingsley

Last updated
Pat Kingsley
Born
Patricia Ratchford

1932 (age 92–93)
Gastonia, North Carolina
NationalityAmerican
OccupationPublicist
Years active1954 - 2009
EmployerPMK
SpouseWalter Kingsley (divorced)
Children1

Pat Kingsley is a retired American publicist. A founder of PMK, she influenced the practice of celebrity PR, shaping "not only stars' images but also entertainment journalism." [1]

Contents

Kingsley represented actors including Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, Joan Crawford, Natalie Wood, Frank Sinatra, Robert Redford, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, Frank Sinatra, Jodie Foster, Lily Tomlin, Sharon Stone, Candice Bergen, Mary Tyler Moore, Sally Field, Matthew McConaughey, and Tom Cruise. [2] Sne was one of the most powerful people in Hollywood at the height of her career.

Early life and education

Kingsley was born in Gastonia, North Carolina in 1932. The eldest daughter of a civilian member of the United States Army Quartermaster Corps, her family moved frequently. She played basketball and softball, and was offered a contract to play in a women's softball league as a high school student. She attended Winthrop College in South Carolina for two years and then moved to Reno, where she lived with an aunt and uncle. [3] [4]

Career

Fontainebleau Hotel, NBC, Rogers and Cowan

At 21, Kingsley moved to Miami Beach. With the help of a high school friend, she was hired to work in the publicity department of the just-opened Fountainebleau Hotel. She was primarily assigned to the television shows that broadcast live from the hotel, including The Colgate Comedy Hour . [4] Learning "the power of the pencil," she frequently picked up bar tabs for celebrities and press people visiting the hotel. [5]

In 1959, Kingsley moved to Los Angeles after living briefly in New York (where she worked for NBC). She was hired at the PR company Rogers & Cowan; she was co-founder Warren Cowan's secretary before she was promoted to publicist. Her first three clients were Doris Day, Natalie Wood and Samantha Eggar; she said her primary responsibility as a new publicist was to keep people away from Day. [6] She planted stories in the press but was uncomfortable with the gossip columns of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons; although considered vital, she avoided their coverage. [7]

Pickwick PR, PMK

In 1968, Kingsley married a New York-based television executive, and returned to New York. In 1969, following the birth of their daughter, [2] she founded Pickwick Public Relations with Lois Smith, Patricia Newcomb, and Gerry Johnson. She said it was a "great time to be in the business," noting that as the studio system ended, and actors no longer worked exclusively for one studio, the PR business changed: the studios stopped handling personal PR, and the most successful actors signed with independent publicists. [8] She moved back to Los Angeles in 1978.

In 1980, Pickwick merged with Maslansky Koenigsberg PR to become PMK. Kingsley both promoted and protected her clients; "the publicist who most embodied the role of barrier," [9] she allowed access to her in-demand clients only if the media adhered to her terms. [5] In 1992, she began requiring journalists to sign "consent agreements." [3]

PMK/HBH Merger, Tom Cruise, retirement

In 2001, PMK merged with rival agency HBH to become PMK/HBH. Kingsley served as CEO. [10] Her roster of A-list clients included Tom Cruise, who she represented from 1992 to 2004. Kingsley was often credited for Cruise's ascent to superstardom. [6] [11] Vanity Fair wrote that they “‘could almost finish each other's sentences.” [12]

Cruise fired Kingsley after she advised him to stop talking about Scientology. He replaced Kingsley with his sister, Lee Anne DeVette. During the year DeVette represented him, Cruise took a "massive hit with the tabloids." He subsequently hired Amanda Lundberg, who was once part of Kingsley's team. [13]

Kingsley stepped down from her position as PMK/HBH CEO in 2007. She continued to serve as a consultant and non-executive director for two years. [14] In 2009, just prior to her retirement, Nikki Finke reported that Kingsley was tired of PR. ("The traveling. The handholding. The awards season.‘“) [15]

Personal life

Kingsley married Walter Kingsley in 1968. They divorced 10 years later. Their daughter became a psychologist. [3] [16]

As a teenager in North Carolina she demonstrated against racism and campaigned for Adlai Stevenson. She is a fundraiser for the democratic party and an environmentalist. [5] [16]

References

  1. ↑ Weinraub, Bernie (May 3, 1999). "Gatekeeper to the Stars; A Strong-Willed Publicity Agent Has Changed the Rules". New York Times . Retrieved September 3, 2023.
  2. 1 2 DeVries, Hilary. "The Queen of All Access". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
  3. 1 2 3 Wood, Gaby (2005-09-25). "LA confidential". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2025-09-19.
  4. 1 2 Galloway, Stephen (December 12, 2013). "Pat Kingsley Finally Talks: Tom Cruise, Scientology and What She's Doing Now". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 "Hollywood's High-Powered Image Machine : In Pat Kingsley's Tough World of Celebrity Publicity, Less Is More, and Too Much Exposure Can Be Fatal". Los Angeles Times. 1988-07-10. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  6. 1 2 Montagne, Renee (December 25, 2009). "Pat Kingsley: Hollywood 'Suppress' Agent". NPR . Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  7. ↑ Sternbergh, Adam (2004-04-05). "Cruise Control". Slate. ISSN   1091-2339 . Retrieved 2025-09-19.
  8. ↑ Higgins, As Told to Bill (2012-10-09). "The Death of a PR Legend". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  9. ↑ (September 23, 2002) The New Yorker
  10. ↑ Waxman, Sharon (2004-11-23). "Hollywood Shakeout". The New York TImes. Retrieved 2025-09-19.
  11. ↑ Monde, Chiderah (December 13, 2013). "Tom Cruise ex-publicist Pat Kingsley opens up about being fired, reveals she told him to 'cool it' with Scientology". New York Daily News . Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  12. ↑ Miller, Julie (December 12, 2013). "Tom Cruise's Break-Up with Longtime Publicist Remembered". Vanity Fair . Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  13. ↑ Newcomb, Tim (June 28, 2012). "Tom Cruise at 50: Where Does the Newly Single Star Go From Here?". Time . Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  14. ↑ "Pat Kingsley to leave PMK/HBH". PRWeek . Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  15. ↑ Finke, Nikki (January 27, 2009). "IT'S THE END OF A PR ERA: Old School Publicist Pat Kingsley Exiting PMK/HBH". Deadline . Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  16. 1 2 "Pat Kingsley - LA Weekly". 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
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