Born: 11 November 1915, United States
Died: 24 February 1998
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Mildred Rossi, Mildred Elizabeth Fulvia di Rossi
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women creator Allison Tyra’s book Uncredited: Women’s Overlooked, Misattributed, and Stolen Work.
Special effects designer Milicent Patrick created one of the most iconic film monsters of her era—the Creature from the Black Lagoon (1953). Bud Westmore, head of the Universal Studios makeup department, was given the on-screen credit as the department head, because at the time, the norm was to leave out many of the behind-the-scenes staff who worked on a film (another practice that meant women were often uncredited). The studio sent Patrick on a press tour as “The Beauty Who Created the Beast,” to speak about her work designing and building the creature. Jealous, Westmore not only insisted the phrasing be changed to “The Beauty Who Lives With the Beast,” but he actually had her fired when she returned from promoting the film. Given his family’s clout in the film industry, his actions likely resulted in her essentially being blackballed from any similar roles. And so, the first woman to work in a Hollywood special effects makeup department, who contributed to several films prior to this, never worked behind the scenes on another film.