Audiences of every medium will recognize Patty McCormack from her more than seven decades of stage, screen and television appearances. McCormack brings her diverse range of talent to every role. While making her film debut at 5 years old in Two Guys and a Gal starring Robert Alda and Janis Paige, it was her starring role in the film The Bad Seed - transferred from stage to screen - that made her a household name. McCormack created the iconic character of Rhoda Penmark in the Broadway production of Bad Seed, the role which led her from the stage to her Oscar & Golden Globe nominated performance in Mervyn LeRoy's classic film. She made a very special appearance as Dr. March in Rob Lowe’s adaptation of The Bad Seed and will appear in its upcoming sequel. McCormack portrayed Pat Nixon in Ron Howard’s Oscar Nominated film, Frost/Nixon, and Mildred Drummond in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Golden Globe Nominated, The Master, which marked more than a half century of film work. Most recently, McCormack starred in House of Deadly Secrets for Netflix and Hallmark’s “Christmas In Evergreen: Tidings of Joy.”
McCormack’s nearly three dozen feature films include Kathy 'O, The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, The Mini-Skirt Mob, Bug, Mommy and its sequel Mommy 2: Mommy's Day, Inhabited, with Malcolm McDowell, Soda Springs, the award winning Shallow Ground and Heart Of The Beholder. Television fans have enjoyed McCormack’s guest starring and recurring roles in some of televisions biggest hits: “I Remember Mama,” “The Sopranos,” “Skin,” “Greek,” “Dallas,” “Hart of Dixie,” and “The Ropers.” With over 250 television appearances, her earliest days on television began in the 1950’s on dozens of live shows like “Playhouse 90.” The 1960’s found McCormack starring in her own series “Peck’s Bad Girl” and on such classic shows as “Rawhide,” “Route 66,” “Wagon Train” and “Wild, Wild West.” She could be found during the 1970’s on such favorites as “Barnaby Jones,” “The Streets of San Francisco,” “Love Boat and Fantasy Island,” and in the 80’s in “Hotel,” “Remington Steele,” “Magnum, P.I.,” “Head of the Class” and “Murder She Wrote.” In the 1990’s she guest starred on favorites such as “Doogie Howser,” “Empty Nest” and “Baywatch,” and started the new millennium on hit shows “ER,” “Family Law” and the long running “NYPD Blue.”
With guest starring roles on ABC hits “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Private Practice,” “Desperate Housewives” and “Scandal;” the CBS series “Hawaii Five-0,” “Shark,” “Criminal Minds” and “Cold Case;” HBO’s “Entourage;” CW’s “Supernatural;” Hulu’s “Chance;” and USA’s “Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story,” her creation of memorable characters has entertained audiences of every generation. McCormack has also been seen in many ABC daytime dramas and numerous made-for- television movies.
Her extensive theatrical work began with her Broadway debut at the age of six in Touchstone starring Ossie Davis. She’s appeared around the country in productions of Morning’s at Seven, Wait Until Dark, Under the Yum Yum Tree, Rod Serling's Storm in Summer and Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park. In Los Angeles, McCormack has done productions of Time of the Cuckoo with Jean Stapleton, Lillian Hellman's Another Part of the Forest, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof directed by Jose Quintero, Hands of its Enemy with Richard Dreyfuss, Hollywood Ever After, What I Did for Love, Ladies of the Corridor, Miserable with an Ocean View, the national company of Neil Simon's Rumors and Wendy Wasserstein’s The Sisters Rosensweig.