Patricia Morison, star of Broadway’s post-WWII golden age, dies age 103

Patricia Morison, one of the last surviving stars of Broadway’s post-World War II ‘golden age’, has died at the age of 103.

Morison, who found fame as the lead actress in the original Broadway production of the Cole Porter musical Kiss Me, Kate, died at her home in Los Angeles on May 20, according to reports. Variety magazine said the brunette beauty, who was born in 1915, died of “natural causes”.

In 1946 she played Hilda Courtney, the smiling adversary of Sherlock Holmes, played by Basil Rathbone, in the film Dressed to Kill. It was one of several movie roles she had between 1939 and 1947, including Tarzan and the Huntress opposite Johnny Weissmuller, and she was very active in touring to entertain US troops during WWII, but it when she took to the stage after the war that her star truly rose.

The actress was diva Lilli Vanessi in 1948’s Broadway production of Kiss Me, Kate for what Variety said was a record-breaking run on 1,077 performances over two and a half years (and did a further 400 performances in London).

She went on to play British teacher Anna Leonowens in The King and I on Broadway opposite Yul Brynner as the King of Siam in 1954, later saying that lothario Brynner had made plenty of advances on her behind the scenes, all of which she spurned, referring to him merely as a “naughty boy”.

She appeared in a variety of television shows through the 1950s and ’60s, before returning to the stage in the ’70s, and even appeared in a guest role in the hit sitcom Cheers in 1989. Her final role was in 1992’s The Long Day Closes, after which she retired.

Morison, who never married, was best known for her waist-length hair and sultry beauty. She was a fierce supporter of gay rights and in her later years concentrated on painting, taking part in several exhibitions. She celebrated her 100th birthday in 2015 with an on-stage discussion of her career. 

“I never thought about being 100,” she told Los Angeles Magazine at the time. “Nobody does. I thought of what was going to happen the next day. I think I enjoy life and I enjoy my friends and people and that’s what I think about the most. I don’t think about how long I’ll go.”

The actress was philosophical about her achievements, telling the magazine that it’d take “a couple of hours” to recount all of the things she’d known earlier in life. “Achievements are wonderful at the moment and as a creative person I’m glad I was able to create some interesting things in theatre,” she concluded. “But what is most important are the people I love and the people near me. That gives me the greatest joys.”

Do you love classic musicals? Is Kiss Me, Kate or The King and I among your favourites?