Patricia Ellis, a talented actress, proudly referred to herself as "the Queen of B pictures at Warner Brothers." With only three years of theatrical experience under her belt, she made her film debut in 1932. Alongside other promising actresses, such as Ginger Rogers and Mary Carlisle, Patricia was handpicked as a WAMPAS (Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers) baby star.
Within a few short years, Patricia had progressed from juvenile supporting roles to second leads, averaging seven films per year. By 1937, she was being cast in starring roles in comedies and occasional mystery or crime pictures, sharing the screen with notable co-stars like James Cagney, Adolphe Menjou, and Joe E. Brown. Critics praised her "comely and spontaneous" performance in the baseball farce Elmer, the Great (1933),"personable" in Here Comes the Groom (1934),co-starring Jack Haley, and her "blonde winsomeness" in Boulder Dam (1936).
However, the majority of Patricia's screen roles were largely ornamental, and the films themselves were, without exception, second features. Towards the end of her Hollywood run, Patricia appeared in the 1937 English comedy The Gaiety Girls, alongside Jack Hulbert and a young Googie Withers, and, in a departure from her typical typecasting, played a femme fatale in Fugitive at Large (1939). By the end of the decade, Patricia decided to bid farewell to Hollywood, first taking on a role in the Broadway production "Louisiana Purchase" and then marrying George T. O'Malley, future president of Protection Securities Systems in Kansas City.
