Melody Patterson, who played Wrangler Jane on "F Troop" and was once married to "Hawaii Five O"'s James MacArthur, has passed away at age 66. Rememberences?
She was very photogenic. Only 66, died August 20 in a nursing home in Hollister, Missouri. Wikipedia says she had multiple organ failure. That doesn't seem right to me. Much too young.
James MacArthur died not that long ago. RIP to a husband and wife team who seemed like bright young things, why . . . only yesterday.
Wow this one is a shock. So young. She was a beautiful women. I was surprised when I learned she was "underaged" when she got the role in F Troop. She lied about her age so she could get the part. She was only 16 when she was making out with with Ken Berry. Melody had amazing comedic timing with her adult male cast in F Troop.
After "F Troop" ended in 1967, Melody Patterson appeared in a few films. The first was 1968's THE ANGRY BREED, about an aspiring actor who runs afoul of a motorcycle gang. Patterson had the small role of "April Wilde," but the co-star (and cycle gang leader) was her future husband James MacArthur. They married in 1970. The picture was written, produced, and directed by David Commons, his only credit in those jobs. Lawrence Brown and Mike Curb scored the film.
Composer Mike Curb and radio personality Casey Kasem executive-produced Patterson's next film, 1969's THE CYCLE SAVAGES. Patterson co-stars with Bruce Dern, and plays a follower of Dern's motorcycle gang. At one point, she offers to pose in the nude for an artist who is sketching the gang (Chris Robinson). The film was the first directorial effort for editor Bill Brame. Jerry Styner and Sidewalk Productions provided the music.
Patterson next appeared in the 1971 horror film BLOOD AND LACE. She co-starred with Oscar-winning actress Gloria Grahame, in her first feature since RIDE WITH VENGEANCE in 1966. Patterson played 18-year-old "Ellie Masters," who is sent to an orphanage after her mother is bludgeoned to death in her bed, and the assailant burns the house, destroying the evidence and killing her mother's lover as well. The film has never had a legitimate home video release, but Scream Factory has announced that they will issue it on Blu-ray and DVD on November 24th.
After a few appearances on her husband's television show, "Hawaii Five-0," in 1974, Patterson left acting. The couple divorced in 1975. Patterson returned to film-making one last time in 1989, playing a nurse in the direct-to-video horror film THE IMMORTALIZER.
