NEVA PATTERSON: Liberated Lady

Lovely socialite Neva Patterson loves but loses fiancé Cary Grant to Deborah Kerr in the romantic tearjerker AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (1957)
Neva has a highly unsympathetic role as the overbearing, self-involved mother of disturbed Keir Dullea in the psychological drama DAVID AND LISA (1962)

FIlms of the Golden Age,
Issue Number 106,
Fall 2021

“Nothing could stop me. I wouldn’t be discouraged. My parents weren’t well-to-do and there was no thought of my going to college so I came to New York.”

While her first love was the theatre, the career of actress NEVA PATTERSON (1920-2010) would encompass radio, band singing, modeling, film and TV. Versatile at playing unsympathetic characters both strong-willed and neurotic, Neva came rather late to films following a string of comedic and dramatic Broadway parts. Best remembered as Cary Grant’s spurned socialite fiancée in the classic Grant/Deborah Kerr romantic tearjerker AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (1957), Neva would remain a stronger presence on the smaller screen with three minor series to her credit and an enviable number of guest roles. A social activist and Actor’s Equity unionist in her spare time.

For obtaining the issue or article on NEVA PATTERSON, please call Subscriptions at (866) 880-2108.

All Film Articles