Pat Bond

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Pat Bond (February 27, 1925 - December 24, 1990) was an American actress who starred on stage and on television, as well as in motion pictures. She was openly lesbian and in many cases she was the first gay woman people saw on stage. Her career spanned some forty years.

[edit] Life

Born Patricia Childers, Pat spent her childhood in Chicago. She and her family moved to Davenport, Iowa when she was a teenager. While there she attended a Catholic women's college. She later equated this experience to "a finishing school where they finished me."

Pat joined the Women's Army Corps in 1945.^[1] Having accepted her homosexuality by this point, she was interested in meeting other lesbians. She acted as a nurse for soldiers returning from the South Pacific and also served in occupied Japan. In 1947, the army was purging lesbians from its ranks but Pat escaped a dishonorable discharge during the so called witch hunt by having married a gay serviceman, Paul Bond, in San Francisco. She later recounted that many of her female comrades endured massive harassment. Some even committed suicide or suffered mental breakdowns.

Following her discharge from the army, Pat moved to San Francisco and became involved in the gay culture there. She earned a BA and MA in Theater from San Francisco State College. She also began acting on stage and performed in many plays throughout the decade. Pat was interviewed for a landmark documentary about gay people, titled Word is Out, in 1978.^[1] Her performance in this film, in which she spoke comically and nostalgically about her experiences in the Army, literally stole the show.^[2] Her career as an actress was formally launched, after the years she had spent honing her skills on stage in San Francisco. By the late 1970's and 80's, she was performing four one woman shows in theaters around the country.

Gerty Gerty Gerty Stein Is Back Back Back was perhaps her most popular performance.^[1] She played the legendary Gertrude Stein and recounted humorous stories of Gertrude's life in Paris with her companion, Alice B. Toklas. The show was a huge success and was televised repeatedly on PBS stations across the country. Her other well known stage shows were Conversations With Pat Bond, centering mainly on reminiscences of her youth, Murder In The WAC, focusing on the Army's lesbian purge in the late forties, and Lorena Hickock and Eleanor Roosevelt: A Love Story.

Pat's career continued to flourish throughout the 1980's. Her one woman shows were often sold out events and she became famous for her incredible comic timing. Film roles in Anti-Clock and The House Of God garnered her several good reviews, increasing her visibility and popularity even further. She was on the board of directors of Theater Rhinoceros in San Francisco and directed a number of plays there. She even made a hilarious guest appearance on the hit CBS sitcom Designing Women, playing one of Julia Sugarbaker's favorite school teachers who comes for a visit, and quickly wears out her welcome.^{[citation needed]}

In 1990, Pat was honored by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in recognition of her army tenure at the end of World War 2. She died of emphysema on Christmas Eve, 1990, in Marin County, California. She was 65 years old. Friends surrounded her bed while she was dying and sang Christmas carols.^[2] Her personal papers and photo albums were donated to the Gay and Lesbian Historical Society. She is best remembered for her successful one woman shows and for her uncompromising determination to live her life on her own terms.

In 1992, The Pat Bond Memorial Old Dyke Award was founded in her honor. The award goes to recognize Bay Area lesbians over 60 who have made outstanding contributions to the world.^[1]