She pursued her acting seriously while in high school in Dallas, Texas, and her perseverance in college was rewarded with a BFA degree in acting from Southern Methodist University. While at the university, she worked in dinner theater and saved her money to make a career assault on New York after graduation.

In New York, Patricia's first audition was for the Angela Lansbury revival of "Gypsy." She was signed to understudy the title role. Patricia worked with the company on Broadway and on tour for 11 months, but never had an opportunity to fill the spotlight in the role of the young Gypsy Rose Lee.

Her most important off-Broadway credits include roles with The Playwrights Horizon, the Manhattan Theatre Club and the WPA Theatre; she has appeared in "Cruise Control," "Vanities," "Hooters," and the Broadway production of "Loose Ends."

Patricia has created two roles for her former college classmate, the much-awarded playwright, Beth Henley: They were in the off-Broadway production of "The Miss Firecracker Contest" and on Broadway in "The Wake of Jamey Foster." Her performance in the off-Broadway production of "Cruise Control" was lauded as "one of the ten best of 1985" by John Simon of New York magazine.

Having sharpened her comedy skills with regular roles on "Double Trouble" and "Eisenhower and Lutz," Patricia moved to Los Angeles in 1988, where she soon found work on the NBC comedy series, "FM."

During her 1996 production hiatus, Patricia filmed a starring role opposite Peter Fonda in "Ulee's Gold." In this, her first starring role in a motion picture, she plays Connie, a nurse whose compassion helps both Ulee (Fonda) and herself overcome ghosts of the past. "Ulee's Gold" debuted at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival as the Centerpiece Premiere and is currently in release by Orion Pictures.

Patricia has also applied her talents to film roles in "Lost Angels" with Donald Sutherland and "In Country" with Bruce Willis. She made her telefilm debut in Lifetime's "Sophie and the Moonhanger," for which she received critical acclaim for her performance as the abused wife of a Ku Klux Klan official. This past year, she starred opposite Brian Dennehy in the miniseries, "Undue Influence," based on Steve Martini's New York Times best-seller.

For her portrayal of Jill, Patricia has received two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy series. In addition, she has received two Golden Globe nominations as well as a Viewers for Quality Television Award nomination.

She is the mother of three children: Twelve-year-old Henry and twins Roxanne and Joseph, age six.

VITAL STATISTICS
BIRTHPLACE: Bethesda, MD
BIRTHDATE: Feb. 23
HEIGHT: 5'7"
HAIR: Brown
EYES: Brown

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