Lory Patrick, the actress best known for her role on NBC’s Tales of Wells Fargo and the longtime wife of Disney star Dean Jones, died Jan. 26 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. She was 92. Her passing was confirmed by a publicist.
Patrick portrayed schoolteacher Tina Swenson during the sixth and final season of Tales of Wells Fargo, appearing in 15 episodes of the expanded hourlong Western. Her character lived on a San Francisco ranch with her sister (played by Mary Jane Saunders) and their widowed mother (Virginia Christine), neighbors to Dale Robertson’s Jim Hardie.
Over the course of her career, Patrick appeared in numerous television series during the 1960s, including Wagon Train, Dr. Kildare, Bonanza, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, It’s a Man’s World, General Electric Theater and Laramie. Her film credits included Surf Party (1964) and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967).
Born Loretta Basham on April 8, 1933, in Beckley, West Virginia, she graduated from Oak Hill High School before beginning a modeling career in Detroit and New York. While in New York, she appeared on the NBC game show Split Personality. She later moved to Los Angeles and signed a contract with Universal in 1961, soon landing an episode of The Loretta Young Show before securing her recurring role on Tales of Wells Fargo.
Patrick retired from acting in the late 1960s but remained active as a writer for television and film. She also contributed as a columnist for a writers’ magazine and, under the name Lory Basham Jones, authored the 1993 book Hearing God.
