Patsy Farnum

Biography

Born with the given name "Mary Ellen", Farnum adopted the nicknames "Pat" or "Patsy" as a child. She moved from her native Ohio to California with her parents while in her late teens. A pretty blonde with a talent for dancing, it was not long before she was embarking on a show business career. Making her first known screen appearance in "The Kid From Spain" (1932), she would go on to dance in the chorus lines of "42nd Street" (1933) and "Footlight Parade" (1933). Like many other aspiring actresses/dancers of that era, she never received screen credit and it is probable that she was a background performer in other musicals of the era. Farnum wed actor Edward V. Brown (1904-1977) in the spring of 1933. For reasons unknown, the couple wed a second time in late 1934, though the union ultimately ended in divorce. Farnum then wed a man named Elliot Bennett (1905-1977), with whom she would remain for the rest of her life. Always close to her parents, she and Bennett remained in California until her father and mother both died in 1961. The Bennetts then settled in Las Vegas. Sadly, whatever plans they had for their new life in Nevada were cut short when Farnum died suddenly from a heart attack in March of 1963. She was just 50 years old.