The Forgotten History Of Milicent Patrick
Image Source: NPR
It is no secret that Hollywood is not kind to women. Whether it is underpaying them or mistreating them, there are constantly stories coming out about how women have been and are currently being treated within the industry. A new story that I recently learned that I am adding to this list is about the forgotten legend of Milicent Patrick. She paved the way for so many women, and yet most of us have never heard her name. I discovered her thanks to a picture on Pinterest that made me Google her for more information. Let’s take a look at the legend she was and talk about the industry that forgot her.
She was born in 1915 and, at the age of 6, was moved to Hearst Castle, owned by publisher William Randolf Hearst, where her father worked as the superintendent of construction. Her childhood was full of luxury thanks to this living arrangement, but for most of her life, she was hidden in the background. She had a few small roles in Hollywood, but it was her creativity that would make her a legend. After attending art school, she became one of the first female animators at Walt Disney Studios. Her pastel chalk artwork was featured in Disney’s 1940 film Fantasia. While her work is fondly remembered for its beauty, she was all but forgotten.
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Image Source: IMDb
Milicent Patrick eventually moved to Universal Studios, where she designed special effects makeup and monsters. Her most recognizable work is the Creature costume from Creature from the Black Lagoon. If you are asking yourself how anyone could forget her with how incredible and ahead of its time the costume was, you’re not alone because I was asking myself the same thing. That film is my favorite classic movie of all time. The studio was so impressed with her work that they sent her on a press tour for the film, where she was listed as “the beauty that created the beast”. Unfortunately, her boss at Universal, Bud Westmore, was not a fan of this idea, and according to author Mallory O’Meara, “He said, ‘Ok, we’ll do this tour, we’ll send you all around the country, but you have to tell people that I designed it. You cannot take credit for it.’”
He also insisted that she be listed as “the beauty that lives with the beast” because he didn’t want anyone to know that he did not create the Creature. She was still getting too much attention for his liking, so he fired her, after which she chose to never work behind the scenes in the film industry again. O’Meara backed up her statements with memos from Universal Studios, and the director of the Westmore Museum stated that Bud did supervise a woman who created the costume, but it was Bud’s name on the credits because that was “the custom”. Milicent went on to live life as a society lady in Los Angeles, where she sketched portraits until her death at age 82 in 1998.
It is wild to me that her legacy was not only cut short but also hidden from the world all because a man couldn’t handle the attention she was getting. I hope that O’Meara’s book, The Lady From The Black Lagoon, will finally help Milicent Patrick get the recognition she deserves, and one day, the film industry will allow women to shine as brightly as the men they work with.
You can rent Creature from the Black Lagoon on Amazon Prime Video, and you can find O’Meara’s book on Kindle Unlimited or wherever books are sold.
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Source: NPR
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