Patricia Collinge

Collinge first appeared on the stage in 1904 in Little Black Sambo and Little White Barbara at the Garrick Theatre in London. She immigrated to the United States with her mother in 1907. Soon after, she appeared as a flower girl in The Queens of the Moulin Rouge (1908) and as a supporting player in The Thunderbolt (1910) starring Louis Calvert, which was staged at the New Theatre (Century Theatre). In 1911, Collinge played Youth in the Broadway production of Everywoman, with Laura Nelson Hall in the title role. She reprised the role in the 1912 London production starring Alexandra Carlisle. She appeared as Agnes with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Amelia Bingham, and William H. Crane in The New Henrietta, a play based on a comedy by Bronson Howard, produced at the Knickerbocker Theatre on Broadway in December 1913. In 1914, she again appeared with Fairbanks in He Comes Up Smiling. Collinge toured in A Regular Businessman, was the original Pollyanna Whittier in Pollyanna, and toured with Tillie in 1919. In 1932, she appeared in Autumn Crocus. Her acting was acclaimed by a New York Times critic, who wrote, "Miss Collinge plays with the soft, pliant sincerity that makes her one of the most endearing actresses." She was a member of the original Broadway cast of The Little Foxes with Tallulah Bankhead as the lead in 1939, playing the role of the tragic Birdie Hubbard. In 1941, she played the same part in the motion picture version, which starred Bette Davis. Other stage work included roles in productions of The Heiress, Just Suppose, The Dark Angel, The Importance of Being Earnest, To See Ourselves, and Lady with a Lamp. Her final stage appearance came in December 1952 in I've Got Sixpence at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.

Collinge's film debut in 1941's The Little Foxes earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination. Other films included Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Tender Comrade (1943), and The Nun's Story (1959). According to the featurette included with the DVD of Shadow of a Doubt, Collinge rewrote the scene that takes place in the garage between Teresa Wright and Macdonald Carey, since Director Alfred Hitchcock and the actors were unhappy with the dialogue. Hitchcock was delighted with her work and used it in the film. She also worked with Alma Reville (Hitchcock's wife) and Ben Hecht on the screenplay for Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944), which also starred Tallulah Bankhead.

Collinge appeared in four episodes of the popular series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In one episode, "The Cheney Vase", based on the play Kind Lady, she played a vulnerable, elderly, wealthy woman kept hostage in her own home by ruthless crooks (Darren McGavin and Ruta Lee) attempting to steal a valuable Primitive style vase. Collinge appeared in two episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. In one episode, "The Ordeal of Mrs. Snow", she once again played a vulnerable, elderly, wealthy woman. However, in this episode, she is locked inside of a vault and left for dead by her niece's husband after discovering he is a forger. In the other episode, "Bonfire", she plays an elderly woman who is murdered by a preacher (played by Peter Falk) who is after her house. She also appeared in such television dramas as Laramie (1961), The United States Steel Hour (1962), East Side/West Side (1963), and N.Y.P.D. (1967).

Collinge wrote the play Dame Nature (1938), an adaptation of a French drama by André Birabeau, in addition to some short stories for The New Yorker, and contributed to The New York Times Book Review. She also wrote The Small Mosaics of Mr. and Mrs. Engel, a travelogue that earned her a gold medal from the Italian government, and The B.O.W.S., which she co-authored with Margalo Gillmore.

Collinge had no children. Collinge died on April 10, 1974, in New York City, New York, at the age of 81 of a heart attack. She is buried with her husband at Saint Mary's Cemetery in Nantucket, Massachusetts.