Patricia Bosworth facts for kids

Patricia Bosworth (born Patricia Crum, April 24, 1933 – April 2, 2020) was an American journalist, biographer, memoirist, and actress. She taught at Columbia University’s journalism school and Barnard College. She won the Front Page Award for her writing about the Hollywood blacklist. Patricia Bosworth died from problems related to COVID-19.

Early Life and Family

Patricia Crum was born in Oakland, California. Her father, Bartley Crum, was a famous lawyer. Her mother, Anna Gertrude Bosworth, was a novelist. Patricia was very close to her younger brother, Bartley Crum Jr.

Her father was involved in politics. He advised Wendell Willkie during the 1940 U.S. presidential election. He also helped advise President Harry S. Truman about creating a Jewish state in 1945.

Defending the Hollywood Ten

Bartley Crum became well-known for defending the Hollywood Ten. These were ten people in the film industry who were accused of being communists during the "Red Scare" in 1947. The "Red Scare" was a time when many Americans were afraid of communism. Because her father defended these people, his career suffered. The family moved from California to New York in 1948.

Education and Name Change

In California, Patricia went to Miss Burke's School and the Convent of the Sacred Heart. When she was 13, she wanted to become an actress. She decided to use her mother's maiden name, Bosworth, as her own last name.

After moving to New York, she attended the Chapin School. She also studied at the Ecole International in Geneva, Switzerland. Patricia Bosworth later went to Sarah Lawrence College. She graduated in 1955, having studied dance and writing.

Career Highlights

Patricia Bosworth had a varied career. She started as an actress, then became a successful journalist and author.

Acting Career

While still in college, Patricia Bosworth began modeling. She posed for a magazine ad for the Greyhound bus company. After college, she joined the Actors Studio in Manhattan. Here, she learned from a famous teacher named Lee Strasberg.

Patricia Bosworth appeared in several plays on Broadway. These included Inherit the Wind and Mary, Mary. She also toured in plays like The Glass Menagerie, where she played Laura alongside Helen Hayes.

She worked on popular TV shows too. These included Naked City and The Patty Duke Show. She also appeared in the film Four Boys and a Gun.

Her most famous acting role was in the 1959 film The Nun's Story. She played Sister Simone, a young friend of Audrey Hepburn's character. This movie was very popular and was nominated for many Academy Awards.

Becoming a Journalist

In the mid-1960s, Patricia Bosworth stopped acting to become a journalist. She wrote many articles and interviews about Broadway for New York magazine and The New York Times.

She worked at several well-known magazines. She was a senior editor at McCall's from 1969 to 1972. Then she was managing editor of Harper's Bazaar from 1972 to 1974. She also wrote a monthly column about arts and entertainment for Working Woman magazine.

Patricia Bosworth joined Vanity Fair magazine in 1984. She worked there as a contributing editor for many years. In 1999, she won the Front Page Award for an article she wrote about director Elia Kazan and his thoughts on the Hollywood Blacklist.

Writing Books

Patricia Bosworth wrote several bestselling biographies. These are books about the lives of famous people.

• Montgomery Clift (1978): This book explored the life of actor Montgomery Clift. Patricia Bosworth's father had been Clift's lawyer, which helped her get access to his family for research.
• Diane Arbus (1984): This biography was about photographer Diane Arbus, known for her unique photos. The book was praised by critics and became the inspiration for the 2006 film Fur.
• Marlon Brando (2000): This book gave a detailed look at the life and career of the famous actor Marlon Brando.
• Jane Fonda (2011): Patricia Bosworth spent ten years writing about actress Jane Fonda. Fonda gave her full access for the book. Jane Fonda: The Private Life of a Public Woman became a New York Times bestseller.

Patricia Bosworth also wrote two memoirs. A memoir is a book about the author's own life.

• Anything Your Little Heart Desires: An American Family Story (1997): This book told the story of her father, Bartley Crum. It explained how defending the Hollywood Ten hurt his career.
• The Men in My Life: A Memoir of Love and Art in 1950s Manhattan (2017): This book covered her acting career, her start in journalism, and her marriages. It also shared how she dealt with the deaths of her brother and father.

In 2018, she released Dreamer With a Thousand Thrills. This book featured photographs by her husband, Tom Palumbo. At the time of her death, Patricia Bosworth was working on a book called Protest Song. It was about Paul Robeson and his work to create anti-lynching laws.

Personal Life and Passing

Patricia Bosworth faced personal tragedies that influenced her writing. Her younger brother, Bart Jr., died in 1953 when she was in college. Her father died six years later in 1959. These events deeply affected her.

She was married twice. Her first marriage to an art student was annulled. In 1966, she married novelist and playwright Mel Arrighi. They worked on some projects together. Mel Arrighi passed away in 1986.

Later, in the late 1980s, she reconnected with photographer Tom Palumbo. They had met years earlier. Tom Palumbo was directing theater at the time. They worked together on several plays. They married in 2000. Tom Palumbo died in 2008 from complications of Lewy Body Dementia. After his death, Patricia Bosworth joined the board of the Lewy Body Dementia Resource Center.

Patricia Bosworth died on April 2, 2020, in New York City. She was 86 years old and passed away from pneumonia and problems related to COVID-19.

Works

• Montgomery Clift: A Biography. New York: Harcourt Brace and Bantam, 1978.
• Diane Arbus. New York: Alfred Knopf and Avon, 1984.
• Making Contact (play) in Best One-Act Plays of 1991-1992. New York: Applause Books, 1992
• Anything Your Little Heart Desires: An American Family Story. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997.
• Marlon Brando. New York: Viking/Penguin, 2001.
• Jane Fonda: The Private Life of a Public Woman. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011
• John Wayne: The Legend and the Man: An Exclusive Look Inside Duke's Archive. John Wayne Enterprises, with contributions by Bosworth, Ron Howard, Ronald Reagan, and Martin Scorsese. New York: PowerHouse Books, 2012
• The Men in My Life: Love and Art in 1950s Manhattan. New York: HarperCollins, 2017
• Dreamer with a Thousand Thrills: The Rediscovered Photographs of Tom Palumbo. New York: powerHouse Books, 2018

Filmography

See also

In Spanish: Patricia Bosworth para niños