Patsy Moran

Biography

The character actress Patsy Moran made her film debut in the Laurel & Hardy comedy Block-Heads (1938) in 1938 at the Hal Roach Studios, following it up in their Saps at Sea (1940) two years later. At Monogram, she made her Western debut in support of Tex Ritter in Cowboy from Sundown (1940) (she also appeared in Ritter's oater The Golden Trail (1940) that year). Moran became a member of the Monogram stock company, playing roles in multiple low-budget, beneath-B pictures, while working at the majors in uncredited bits in A-pictures and credited parts in shorts. On the radio, she appeared as Martha Hoople, the fool-suffering wife of the eponymous "Major Hoople" on the short-lived (1942-43) radio series based on the comic strip "Our Boardinghouse." Moran's career likely was retarded by the post-World War II, post-TV slump of the movie industry. Her last motion picture was Allan Dwan's Sweethearts on Parade (1953) at Republic. She did not make the transition to television, though ironically, she did co-star in an episode of "I Love Lucy" in support of Lucille Ball, with whom she had earlier appeared in an uncredited but role in 1944's Meet the People (1944) at RKO, the studio Lucy later bought. Patsy Moran was married to stuntman Pat Moran.