Patsy O'Leary: The Forgotten Irish Mack Sennett Beauty

I’ve been aware of Patsy O’Leary’s existence for a number of years and, similarly to Alice Russon who I previously wrote about on here, had a fascination with. I take a large interest in uncovering forgotten stars of Irelands past and attempting to do them justice. So, here is my research on Pasty O’Leary compiled into one.

Patsy O'Leary, c. 1930

Patricia Veloris O’Leary was born on May 20, 1912. She was seemingly the daughter of Grover C. and Mary Winifred LaGrange (nee Donahue), as written on her marriage licence. This would mean her birth surname was not O’Leary but LaGrange. In my search through newspapers for mentions of Patsy, I came across a private article with a mention of her name in which someone calls her his foster daughter – however due to my inability to access the full piece and the likelihood of it not even being her, take that with a pinch of salt.

Grover C. LaGrange was a painter and decorator, born in 1885 in Syracuse, New York. He died in 1955 and is buried at Calvary Cemetery in an unmarked plot. Thanks to Find A Grave, this is the most information we have about him. I searched through all I could of the family, but came back with no results of Patsy.

Patsy’s marriage licence with parents listed

In accordance with a report made in South Bend News Times on December 14, 1930, and with her ancestry page, Patsy was born in County Cork. IMDB lists her birthplace as being Los Angeles, but I can’t find their source for this.

If Patsy was indeed born in Cork, she wouldn’t spend long there. She and her family moved to Paris when she was three months old, before relocating permanently to America. They lived between Tacoma, Washington, New York and Los Angeles.

At the age of 14, Patricia O’Leary, as she was then going by, entered into the Orange County Personality Contest of 1927, also known as ‘Queen of Orange Empire.’ She was one of the winners, dubbed ”Miss Valencia” and subsequently invited to attend a ball held in honour of the contest winners. At this ball it was said that many motion picture associates would be present. The Los Angeles Examiner wrote of her attendance:

”Patricia (Pat) O’Leary, California’s sweet sixteen, who glorifies American girlhood, will be there in person.”

Judging by this, it seems she lied about her birth year to age herself up in order to enter the contest. This would make sense as to why some reports state her birth year as 1910.

This is not the only mentioning of her ”glorifying the American girl” that I came across, as I also found an advertisement for Greenwich Village’s Baseball Frolic and Collegiate Dancing Contest for First National Pictures Trophy, presented by Babe Ruth. It shows Patsy’s name at the bottom, stating she will be there in person, with the same phrase – ”who glorifies American girlhood.''

Orange County contest girls. Patsy is third in from the right, standing just behind the rest of them.

She made her debut on stage at Loew’s State Theatre that July as a part of the contest winners’ appearance for the ”Bathing Beauty Idea” show which was displayed before a showing of the movie ”Mr. Wu.”

Following this, Patsy allegedly went to seek out Mack Sennett, to whom she said: ”I want to become an actress, so I came to you because I was told that you have made many women into stars.”

The contest winners. Patsy is the one in the back, without a visible trophy.

Also in 1927, Patsy entered into a ukulele contest and came out in fifth place, winning the prize of a dance scholarship at the Arthur Prince School of Dancing in Hollywood (which at the time was valued at around $450 for entry).

Patsy and her ukulele

By that same year, 1927, she was beginning her appearances in film. She had an uncredited part as a bathing beauty in Mack Sennett’s ”The Girl from Everywhere” which was released in December.

From Los Angeles Times, October 1928

The following year Patsy appeared in seven movies and shorts, the most notable of which were ”Isle of Lost Men” and ”The Girl-Shy Cowboy.” 1929 would prove her most successful year yet, as she landed twelve different screen roles. Most of her appearances were in Mack Sennett shorts, and this was what she became most identified with. Between then and 1932, her screen career flourished as columnist sung her praises.

Patsy (in yellow) and Rex Bell in a still for “The Girl-Shy Cowboy“

Publicity still cut-out featuring Patsy for “A Hollywood Theme Song” (1930)

”Patsy O’Leary leading the way into the pool with a beautiful dive off the springboard… That little red head is going to be heard of in a big way one of these days.” Wrote Dan Thomas for the Santa Cruz Evening News in 1930, upon seeing Patsy at Sennett’s beach home party.

Patsy and Don Rader in a still from “Don’t Bite Your Dentist” (1929)

Her full list of film credits can be found on IMDB. Her final on-screen work was ”The Flirty Sleepwalker,” released in 1932.

Patsy and Andy Clyde featured in The Boston Post, February 1930

She began using the name Patsy or Patricia O’Day publicly, not to be confused with another Patsy O’Day who was an active Broadway and Ziegfeld girl at the time. On February 23, 1930, it was officially announced that she was to be wed to Dr. Clement Joseph Joynt that June. On May 17 that same year, just a month before her wedding, Patsy was the victim of a robbery. Her apartment at 1775 North Orange Grove Av. (still there, here’s what it looks like now; inside) was looted and $500 worth of jewellery was stolen.

Patsy and Joynt wed on June 16, 1930, at St. Vincent’s Church. After the ceremony, they left for a trip to Northern California. They took their honeymoon at the Sir Frances Drake Hotel (now the Beacon Grand Hotel) in San Francisco. A few weeks later in mid July, she attended a party hosted by her former employer Mack Sennett at George Olson’s Club, Culver City. Any news of her goes quiet for the rest of that year.

Patsy featured in Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic News, March 1930

October 14, 1931, we get a report that her home is being guarded by police officers in a shocking report. Her husband, Joynt, reportedly ”exchanged pistol shots” with two other individuals at their home. Patsy reported getting a number of threatening phone calls over a two week period before they began showing up at their home. Patsy found one of the individuals at her back door, to which she was forced to pull out a pistol to ward him off. And for the second time in a year, her home was then broken into, although nothing was reported stolen. I couldn’t find any updates for this case as nothing was further reported. Both of them seemed to be alright in the end.

Patsy circa 1930

1931 saw Patsy, or Patricia O’Leary officially, wrapped up in scandal and legal trouble. On July 30, 1931, The Boston Record wrote that Patricia O’Leary faced accusations of blackmail and extortion. Mrs. Alice M. Fredey, who Patsy met at a social club, was described as having hung around areas in which many Filipino boys would. There, she met a man named Manuel Sarco, a friend of Patsy’s. The story goes that Patsy discovered Mrs. Fredey, a married woman and mother of four, was seemingly becoming more than friendly with Sarco and she threatened to expose their relationship, demanding $500 from her to stay quiet. Mrs. Fredey also stated Patsy had threatened her personally, writing her letters and showing up at her home, and Fredey then immediately went to authorities, from which then Patsy hired a lawyer. Patsy remarked:

”There’s a lot more to this case than what appears on the surface. I never wrote any threatening letters and I just went to Mrs. Fredey’s home to see if my boy friend was there. I’ve got a witness to prove it.”

Now, I should add a personal note here to say that at first I was not convinced this was our Patsy O’Leary. My skepticism was soon shot down when I saw the photographs included in the various articles which confirmed her as the right Patsy. In all the articles, she was referred to as Miss instead of Mrs, so I assume she didn’t disclose the fact she was actually married at the time as it’s heavily implied she had a romantic relationship with Sarco. However, in the final article regarding her sentencing, a husband is mentioned

One of the included photographs of Patricia O’Leary

Patsy was ultimately found guilty and sentenced to three months on the charge of threatening ones life, and was escorted home to be placed under the care of physicians. Her bail was set at $1000, which her friends immediately began saving for. Patsy’s lengthy statement:

”I first met Mrs. Fredey at a Columbus ave. address on Dec. 22. It was a casual meeting. I met her again on several occasions and we were very friendly. She invited me to her home. Once we went together to the Women’s Professional Club on Beacon Hill and had a nice, long chat there. Afterward, Mrs. Fredey drove me to Mrs. Dora Gazo’s home on Columbus ave. in her auto. When I went to her home on July 20 it was just a visit with her. I wanted no trouble. There was nobody at home. To the boy who showed me where Mrs. Fredey lived I said only: Mrs. Fredey is not a nice woman because she goes with my boy friend. It had come to a point where I told Manuel that if he had any more connections with Mrs. Fredey I was through with him for him. On the 25th of May Mrs. Fredey told me that she would have nothing more to do with Manuel. I am deeply sorry now that I did go to Mrs. Fredey’s home. And I never asked for $500.”

She also added in regards to the accusation of her threats: ”I told that Newton smart set lady to keep away from my sweetheart, and that if she didn’t God would punish her.”

Another included photo

Manuel Sarco

A witness named Ralph Donahue gave testament that he helped direct Patsy to Fredey’s home and that one other woman was with her, but he did not hear Patsy cause any trouble. Patsy’s counsel then claimed Fredey had visited Patsy when she was first jailed and offered to drop the case if she would just apologize. He then claimed Fredey came to his office and offered to pay the entire cost of the case if Patsy signed a release, which she refused to do.

In November, her case was reconsidered, to which a jury reached the conclusion to allow her release and free her of her charges. She danced and laughed as the verdict was given to her.

In December, Patsy filed a lawsuit against Alice and Charles Fredey for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution for $20,000. All of this would explain to me why she began using the name Patricia ”Patsy” O’Day instead.

There were no reports of Patsy during 1932, but we hear about her again in October 1933 as she attended an afternoon tea given for the Zeta Tau Society, also known as the Zeta Tau Alpha, an international women’s fraternity.

It seems people at the time were thinking similar things to myself, as her over two year disappearance from the public eye was soon acknowledged in an article from 1936. Los Angeles Daily News on July 18 gave the headline ”Missing Film Actress Seeking Divorce.”

The article details that Patsy was indeed considered ”missing” in some official capacity as it explains the police were satisfied to have discovered her whereabouts. This came to their attention after they had been searching for her and discovered she had filed for a divorce against Joynt. A couple days later, July 25, it was reported that she had been awarded a temporary alimony of $14 a week from her husband. After the couples separation on July 8, she filed the divorce on the grounds of mental cruelty, stating he had falsely accused her of excessive drinking and cheating on him all because she, in her own words, ”went places with friends.” On July 30 it was reported that Joynt claimed to the courts that Patsy had been using intoxicants excessively and was absent from their home most night, to which she responded that he was in fact the one with a drinking problem and was mentally cruel to her. Joynt later claimed that he once allowed her to take a trip to San Francisco for the benefit of her health, to which he later discovered she was being accompanied by a married man.

The proceedings of their divorce carried on until October of that year, where we have report that Patsy told the courts Joynt had locked her out of them home and taken her key: ”He refused me a key to the house and told me I was just a guest in his home.” In addition, she added how this affected her: ”I lost 22 pounds in 6 weeks.” The courts found that Joynt had offered one of his friends $5 to ”take his wife out,” which ultimately won her the divorce in the end. The settlement was made out of court, but Patsy was awarded their home at 5138 Fulton Avenue, Van Nuys (see it here), two German police dogs for her protection, a saddle horse, her car, and her alimony.

After her divorce, it seems Patsy went back to part-time acting work under the name Patricia O’Day. She worked briefly at The Cotton Club in New York City, before taking up work at a floor show at the Redwood Inn Night Club in 1937. She was also, by this time, still a member of various sorority clubs.

In 1979, an article was published in the Mill Valley Record about an artist called Bev Wahler. Within the piece it is mentioned that in 1967 Miss Wahler had studied abstract oil painting with a Patricia O’Day in San Francisco. I can’t confirm this is the same Patricia O’Day, but it could be likely.

From here, the trail goes cold.

Theories

Theory 1: Double Life

Some potential matches for the Patsy O’Leary we’ve been searching for have been found but cannot be considered definite. There is a record for an Annie O’Leary, married to William Herbert Lawrence Gattie, born May 20, 1912, in County Cork. It says she died in 1985, unspecified date, in London. I figured that was worth mentioning.

Finding photos of Patsy even proved difficult, as her appearance and name changed so much throughout a short period of time. Over the course of only 3 years, she was described as a red head, a brunette, and a blonde.

Now, it is important to note that there was a Patsy Veloris O’Leary born also on May 20, 1912, but in Washington. She was married in 1932 to a Harry Russel Elliot, and was the daughter of Thomas E. and Winifred ”Winnie” June Gay O’Leary (nee Morris). She would later marry a man named Thomas H. Creek, by whose name she took, and had a daughter, Paddy. Why is this relevant? Well, the obvious name similarities and the birth date being exactly the same could be just a freak coincidence, but here’s my though process – and take into consideration this part is just my opinion:

Patsy O’Leary clearly had a tendency to live multiple lives by multiple different names. Her first marriage certificate to Joynt states her name as Patsy Mary O’Day, but we know within a year into their marriage that she was unfaithful at least once or twice. Is it far-fetched to believe that she secretly wed another man under a different name, her real name incidentally, during her marriage to Joynt? That’s something you can form your own opinion on. I’m not stating this to be accusatory, as a matter of fact if she did in fact do this then it would mean I have closure on her story. The parents names being different is something I cannot come up with an explanation for besides the possibility of adoption/fostering, but that’s just another theory. If this is the same Patsy, it would mean she died on September 18, 1980, at the age of 68 in Reno. It’s worth mentioning her IMDB page falsely states her birthday as September 8, which oddly coincides with this death date.

Why do I think she would do this? Well, her legal troubles she found herself in count as one, but also the threats made against her life on occasions could be another. I have to admit this was all very confusing to me, and maybe I’m completely missing the mark, but it felt important to mention.

Theory 2: Admitting Defeat

My second and final theory for this entire thing is simply admitting I was wrong. Perhaps there were in fact two different Patsy O’Leary’s / Patsy O’Day’s co-existing at the same time, born the exact same day. Maybe it was all a freak coincidence, maybe those photos are two completely different women and my facial recognition talent is clearly limited. That would mean that for at least one of them, I cannot conclude their story.

Conclusion

Sadly, this post is on-par with my Alice Russon one, in that I could not find any further information regarding Patsy. I hate to see talents, especially Irish ones, become lost to time and discarded as Patsy has, which is why I am so passionate about covering their stories and working so hard to do them justice.

If you have any relevant information I could add, or happen to be a relative of Patsy’s with any inquiries, please Email me at kjhbcontact@gmail.com. To conclude this piece, here is a photograph of Patsy I bought recently. This is the best full portrait we have of her, taken on October 16, 1930, for publishing in various newspapers:

Please ask permission before re-sharing this photo as it currently sits in a private collection.

Sources

Family Search

Ancestry

California Digital Newspaper Collection

Internet Archive

My Heritage / Old News

Newspapers