Whatever happened to Gail Patrick, that fine actress? Give information and an address. - M.Z., Fullerton, Calif.
Stats: Born June 20, 1911, in Birmingham, Ala., as Margaret LaVelle Fitzpatrick. Studied law at University of Alabama. Married three times, two children.Early years: Patrick worked at an Alabama college. She entered a newspaper "Panther Girl" contest on a lark and won a week in Hollywood. She didn't win the national contest but was offered a Paramount movie contract. She made her debut in "If I Had a Million" in 1932.
Famous for: She starred in a few movies but was best known for her "other woman" roles. Among her movies: "My Man Godfrey," "Artists and Models," "Mad About Music," "My Favorite Wife," "Up in Mabel's Room," "Claudia and David." From 1956 to 1965, she was executive producer of the original "Perry Mason" TV series under her married name Gail Patrick Jackson.
In recent years: Patrick retired from movies in 1947 when she married Thomas Cornwell Jackson, Erle Stanley Gardner's literary agent. They persuaded Gardner to allow the TV production. Although the Jacksons were divorced in 1969, she was a consultant on the 1973 revival of the series. She died in 1980.
- Send questions to Whatever happened to . . ., Detroit Free Press, 321 W. Lafayette Blvd., Detroit 48226. Volume of mail prohibits personal replies.