Patricia Medina, 1919-2012

I just read yesterday evening that actress Patricia Medina died over the weekend at the age of 92. Medina was born in the UK and started her movie career there in the late 1930s but came to Hollywod after World War II. Her diverse film career included the first of the Francis (the talking mule) movies, as well Orson Welles' overrated Mr. Arkadin. Medina's having been born to an English mother and a Spanish father apparently made her a bit exotic to the producers in Hollywood, as she played Arabian princesses at least twice, and a number of Latin characaters both in period pieces and the contemporary Plunder of the Sun. I think the only other movie of Medina's that I've blogged about is The Jackpot, where she plays the artist who paints James Stewart's portrait as a prize he wins in a radio contest.

Medina was also the widow of actor Joseph Cotten. The two married in 1960 and remained married until his death in 1994.