Lorna Patterson
| Lorna Patterson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 1, 1956 Whittier, California, United States |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1979–1993 |
| Spouse(s) |
Robert Ginty (1983–?; divorced) Michael Lembeck (1990–present; 2 children) |
Lorna Patterson (born October 1, 1956) is an American film, stage and television actress and, more recently, a Jewish cantor. As an actress, her best-known roles were as Randy, the singing stewardess, in Airplane!, and as the lead in the television series Private Benjamin.
Biography
Patterson was born in Whittier, California, where she attended Rio Hondo College for a single semester. Patterson began her professional career while still in high school, performing melodrama at The Bird Cage Theatre at Knott's Berry Farm.[1]
Career
She is a founding member of the Musical Theatre Guild and has appeared in many stage musicals.[2]
She played Randy, the blonde stewardess in the 1980 comedy Airplane!. She co-starred with Tony Randall in the 1981 television pilot Sidney Shorr: A Girl's Best Friend. By the time this became the television series Love, Sidney, she had won the lead role in the 1981–1983 television version of the film Private Benjamin, so her Sidney Shorr role was played in Love, Sidney by Swoosie Kurtz. Earlier, she had been a regular on two short-lived series, Working Stiffs and Goodtime Girls.[3] She also played Liz Drever in 1984, in The Flying Doctors, episodes 2, 3 and 4, in Australia.
Patterson has also lent her voice to some animated productions including the TV series Timeless Tales from Hallmark, the direct to video film Joseph and his Brothers from The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible, the English dub of the Japanese anime film Ultraman: The Adventure Begins and the Christmas special Nick and Noel.
Personal life
Patterson was married to actor Robert Ginty. (Patterson worked with Ginty's first wife, Francine Tacker in the 1980 series Goodtime Girls, which also starred a pre–Designing Women Annie Potts and Georgia Engel.) She is currently married to actor/director Michael Lembeck, and the couple have two children.
Patterson converted to Judaism a few years after marrying Lembeck, after having developed an interest in the religion and completing courses in the Louis and Judith Miller Introduction to Judaism Program, a division of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University.[4][5] In 2009 she received her cantorial ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion in Los Angeles.[6]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Working Stiffs | Nikki Evashevsky | Main cast (8 episodes) |
| 1979 | Lou Grant | Girl | Episode: "Samaritan" |
| 1979 | Beane's of Boston | Shirley Brahms | TV pilot episode |
| 1979 | The Lovebirds | Janine Burley | TV film |
| 1980 | Goodtime Girls | Betty Crandall | Main cast (13 episodes) |
| 1980 | Angie | Sissy | Episode: "Angie and Brad's Close Encounter" |
| 1980 | Airplane! | Randy | Feature film |
| 1981–83 | Private Benjamin | Pvt. Judy Benjamin | Main cast (39 episodes) |
| 1981 | Sidney Shor: A Girl's Best Friend | Laurie Morgan | TV film |
| 1982 | Airplane II: The Sequel | Randy | Feature film |
| 1984 | Hawaiian Heat | Alexis | Episode: "Yankees vs. the Cubs" |
| 1984 | The Impostor | Julie | TV film |
| 1985 | The Flying Doctors | Liz Drever | TV miniseries |
| 1987 | Ultraman: The Adventure Begins | Dr. Susan Rand (voice) | TV film |
| 1987 | Hotel | Nancy Stanton | Episode: "Revelations" |
| 1989 | Murder, She Wrote | Edie Lorraine | Episode: "The Search for Peter Kerry" |
| 1990 | Timeless Tales from Hallmark | Episode: "Rumpelstiltzkin" | |
| 1990 | The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible | Episode: "Joseph and His Brothers" | |
| 1991 | Major Dad | Sgt. Tammi Rae Perkins | Episode: "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Perky" |
| 1993 | Basic Values: Sex, Shock & Censorship in the 90's | TV film | |
| 1993 | Nick & Noel | Leslie (voice) | TV film |
References
- ↑ Johna Blinn, "Cooking Chinese Is Fun For Private Benjamin Star", The Palm Beach Post, May 21, 1981.
- ↑ "Lorna Patterson, Founding Member", Musical Theatre Guild (accessed 2014-08-18).
- ↑ Dan Lewis, "Lorna Patterson Salutes Private Benjamin'", Sarasota Journal, September 2, 1981.
- ↑ The Long Way Home | Issue 7 | American Jewish University ( AJULA ) formerly University of Judaism, archived by the Wayback Machine here.
- ↑ Melonie Magruder, "From stewardess to cantor", The Malibu Times, May 20, 2009.
- ↑ "Cantor Lorna Lembeck", Academy for Jewish Religion (accessed 2014-08-06).