Patricia Owens(1925-2000)

Patricia Owens was born in Golden, British Columbia, in 1925. When she was eight she moved to England, where she embarked on a number of stage plays. Later she was spotted by a Twentieth Century-Fox executive, who offered her a contract, and in 1956 she went to Hollywood. There she met Sy Bartlett, whom she married and later divorced in 1958. Warner Brothers spotted her acting abilities in the classic "Island in the Sun" and in 1957 asked Fox if she could be loaned out for a part in the Marlon Brando classic "Sayonara". She received kudos in that film for her performance as the distraught, scorned fiancée of Brando. It was not until 1958, though, when she achieved her greatest role, as the tormented Helene Delambre in the Fox classic "The Fly". The image of her as seen through the fly's compound eyes is considered one of the classic moments in the history of science fiction films. It was during the time that "The Fly" was being made that she was trying to reconcile with Bartlett, but it did not happen. Patricia went on to play in other films, but did not achieve the status she deserved and continued to star in B Pictures and television roles. In 1960 she married real estate developer Jerome "Jerry" Nathanson. The marriage was short-lived but produced Patricia's only child, Adam, who helped with this biography. Patricia was also married to John Austin for six years, from 1969 to 1975. Sadly, she died in 2000 from cancer.