The lady from the black lagoon :

Material Type	Library	Call Number	Item Barcode	Location
Book	Searching... North Andover - Stevens Memorial Library	BIO PATRICK	31478010128750	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Andover - Memorial Hall Library	BIOGRAPHY PATRICK, MI.	31330008785986	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Chelmsford Public Library	BIOG/PATRICK	31480011229702	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Georgetown Peabody Library	791.43 PATRICK	32120001256179	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Groveland - Langley-Adams Library	B PATRICK	32121000652814	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Hamilton-Wenham Public Library	B PATRICK, MILICENT	30470001701522	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Haverhill Public Library	BIOG/PATRICK M	31479006992555	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Ipswich Public Library	921 PATRICK, MILICENT	32122002823700	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Manchester-by-the-Sea Public Library	B PATRICK 2019	32124001888007	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Merrimac Public Library	92 PAT	32125001274007	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Methuen - Nevins Memorial Library	B PATRICK, M.	31548003224616	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Newburyport Public Library	BIOGRAPHY PATRICK M	32128003737872	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Tewksbury Public Library	B PATRICK	32132003417048	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Westford - J.V. Fletcher Library	B PATRICK	31990004739699	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Wilmington Memorial Library	BIOGRAPHY PATRICK	32136003358961	Searching... Unknown

2019 SCIBA Book Award Winner for Biography

A Hugo and Locus Award Finalist

Winner of the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award

The Los Angeles Times Bestseller

A Thrillist Best Book of the Year

A Book Riot Best Book of 2019

One of Booklist's 10 Best Art Books of the Year

The Lady from the Black Lagoon uncovers the life and work of Milicent Patrick--one of Disney's first female animators and the only woman in history to create one of Hollywood's classic movie monsters

As a teenager, Mallory O'Meara was thrilled to discover that one of her favorite movies, Creature from the Black Lagoon, featured a monster designed by a woman, Milicent Patrick. But for someone who should have been hailed as a pioneer in the genre, there was little information available. For, as O'Meara soon discovered, Patrick's contribution had been claimed by a jealous male colleague, her career had been cut short and she soon after had disappeared from film history. No one even knew if she was still alive.

As a young woman working in the horror film industry, O'Meara set out to right the wrong, and in the process discovered the full, fascinating story of an ambitious, artistic woman ahead of her time. Patrick's contribution to special effects proved to be just the latest chapter in a remarkable, unconventional life, from her youth growing up in the shadow of Hearst Castle, to her career as one of Disney's first female animators. And at last, O'Meara discovered what really had happened to Patrick after The Creature's success, and where she went.

A true-life detective story and a celebration of a forgotten feminist trailblazer, Mallory O'Meara's The Lady from the Black Lagoon establishes Patrick in her rightful place in film history while calling out a Hollywood culture where little has changed since.

Don't miss Mallory O'Meara's upcoming novel, Girly Drinks!

Reviews (5)

Publisher's Weekly Review

In this captivating and exhaustively researched biography, screenwriter and producer O'Meara chronicles the largely unknown story of artist and actress Milicent Patrick, designer of the monster in the 1954 film Creature from the Black Lagoon. O'Meara traces Patrick's journey from precocious art student to her tenure as one of the first female animators at Disney and her discovery by Universal Studios' head of makeup, Bud Westmore. After designing the creature for the hit film and being sent on a whirlwind press tour, Patrick became the target of Westmore's jealousy, was fired, and subsequently was denied credit for her work. O'Meara also shares her own filmmaking experiences in modern-day Hollywood, including being accused of getting a job by sleeping with the boss and being sexually harassed by a voice actor, to highlight the continuing challenges for women in the film industry. These personal anecdotes may initially appear a distraction from Patrick's story, but O'Meara's enthusiasm for her subject soon overcomes all objections. This is a fascinating slice of Hollywood history with a feminist slant, correcting a sexist wrong from decades ago and restoring Patrick to her rightful place of esteem. Agent: Brady McReynolds, JABberwocky Literary Agency. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

An idiosyncratic, much-needed biography of "a woman before her time."Screenwriter and genre film producer O'Meara's first book is an engaging chronicle of Milicent Patrick (1915-1998), a woman trailblazer in the film industry, as well as the personal story of O'Meara's own, not always pleasant, experiences in the industry. As the enthusiastic author writes, in 2018, Patrick is "still the only woman to have designed an iconic movie monster." Yet "she's not just the queen of monsters, the goddam Joan of Arc." O'Meara set out on a nearly three-year journey to piece together the life of this largely unrecognized artist. Mildred Elisabeth Fulvia Rossi was born in El Paso, Texas. When she was 6, her father, Camille, was hired to be the on-site superintendent of construction for the William Randolph Hearst estate, and Patrick spent 10 wonderful years as "Alice in Wonderland." Years later, she changed her name in honor of Hearst's wife, Millicent (Patrick left out the second "l"). In 1935, she began her study of illustration and drawing at the Chouinard Art Institute. In 1938, "her work caught the eye of Walt Disney," and she joined his studio, working on The Sorcerer's Apprentice and Dumbo. Patrick did some bit acting and modeling before getting a big break in 1952, when she was the first woman hired by Bud Westmore for his famous special effects makeup department at the male-dominated Universal Studios. After designing monsters for some science-fiction movies, she took on her most famous design, Gill-Man, for the classic Creature from the Black Lagoon, "still one of the best designed and recognizable movie monsters in Hollywood history." She never received any on-screen credit, and a highly successful tour she did promoting the film got her fired by a jealous Westmore.Jam-packed with many funny, goofy footnotes, this passionately written biography will do much to bring Patrick the recognition she deserves. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Horror fan and film producer O'Meara was so thrilled when she discovered that the titular entity from the Creature from the Black Lagoon was designed by a woman that she had a tattoo of Milicent Patrick and her beloved creature inked on her forearm. But O'Meara didn't stop there: inspired by Patrick's seminal contribution and frustrated by her relative obscurity, O'Meara set off on a quest to discover everything she could about her idol, resulting in this engaging, conversational, passionate biography, which details both Patrick's life and O'Meara's own research mission. Born in 1915 to a conservative structural engineer, Patrick grew up in the shadow of Hearst Castle before her family moved to Hollywood and Patrick started her Hollywood career as an actress and an animator. In an ironic twist of fate, the man responsible for hiring Patrick as a designer at Universal Pictures would also be the one who cut her career short because of his envy over the attention she got for creating the creature. Fans of traditional biographies might balk at O'Meara's candid style and observations, but there's never a dull moment in this beautiful, heartfelt tribute to a pioneering special-effects designer and animator and passionate call for change in the industry that forgot her.--Kristine Huntley Copyright 2019 Booklist

New York Review of Books Review

A 2019 CONGRESSIONAL confirmation hearing on ?-Span is probably not a place you would expect to see the titular gilled fellow from the 1954 monster movie classic "Creature From the Black Lagoon." However, this past March, there he was - that unmistakable rubbery visage sitting behind the nominee to lead the Department of the Interior - in a stunt by Greenpeace activists wearing masks to protest the Washington "swamp." But when the incident quickly went viral, it also highlighted the Creature's solid place in pop culture after 65 years. In "The Lady From the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick," Mallory O'Meara has set out on a mission to correct the common assumptions about the Creature's creator. As a 17-year-old fan poking around the internet, O'Meara learned that an uncredited studio artist named Milicent Patrick (1915-98) was the real visionary behind the Creature and is "still the only woman to have designed an iconic movie monster" as of this book's writing. O'Meara is now a screenwriter and producer who makes monster movies and works for an independent film company. Her continuing admiration (and tattoo) of Patrick - and dismay at the lack of a proper biography - propelled her to begin work on "The Lady From the Black Lagoon" when she was 25. Learning that Patrick had to deal with a serious amount of Hollywood sexism further reinforced her bond with her subject. "I could easily put myself in her shoes," she writes. "I have the same pair - every woman in film has them. They're standard issue and they're uncomfortable as hell." As the book reveals, Milicent Patrick had an unconventional and fascinating life. Born Mildred Elisabeth Fulvia Rossi, she grew up on the grounds of what would eventually become Hearst Castle in San Simeon, Calif., where her father worked as a structural engineer on the estate. She went on to have a varied film-industry career that included work as a bit-part actress, as an animator on the 1940 film "Fantasia" for Walt Disney Studios and as a designer in the makeup department led by Bud Westmore at Universal Studios. O'Meara's search for Patrick's life story is helped in part by library archives, digitized genealogy databases and the continued interest in "Creature From the Black Lagoon," with its fandom community willing to share their resources. "Never, ever underestimate the power of nerds," she writes. (The filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is another fan - he first saw the movie when he was 7 and has cited his own deep admiration for the Creature's design and story as an inspiration for his Oscarwinning 2017 fantasy, "The Shape of Water.") Readers looking for a straightforward account of Patrick's life and work are likely to be frustrated with the rambling pace and structure of "The Lady From the Black Lagoon." Although earnest and well-intentioned, the book comes off like small nuggets of biography thickly padded in autobiographical Bubble Wrap that recounts O'Meara's own career, angst and writing process. The text is also peppered with occasional dashes of gossipy Hollywood history, seething rage over the way women are still treated in the industry, moviemaker tidbits and thoughtful observations on the cultural importance of horror films. However, the book's meandering path should not come as a surprise. O'Meara freely admits early on that she's not an experienced or even objective biographer, and her infectious enthusiasm for her subject may hook similarly curious readers wondering whatever became of the Creature's creator. (Without giving too much away, sometimes the monsters behind the scenes are worse than the ones stomping around on the screen.) Despite the disjointed narrative, O'Meara achieves her goal. Thanks to her persistent efforts, "The Lady From the Black Lagoon" pulls Milicent Patrick and her considerable accomplishments out of the murky swamp of overlooked history and back into the light. J. D. BIERSDORFER IS the production editor of the Book Review.

Library Journal Review

Particularly timely in light of the #MeToo movement, this book is more than simply a tribute to a forgotten pioneer of special effects and makeup design, Milicent Patrick. The creator of the iconic mask used in Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), and one of the first female animators for Walt Disney, Patrick seemed destined for a memorable career before encountering the sexism of male coworkers threatened by her talents. When she was a child, her father had been superintendent of construction at newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst's Hearst Castle, so readers are also treated to a fascinating side story about life in and around San Simeon, CA, as well as the peripatetic life of Patrick's family. But it's the book's subtitle that clearly has a twofold meaning for author, screenwriter, and producer O'Meara, reflecting her passion for the project. The individuals she discusses are also those who are part of the internalized misogyny of the industry, and she and her subject had to handle very similar situations and prejudices. VERDICT This engaging, forthright, and personal history of both the author and her muse will be a valuable addition to most libraries.-Peter Thornell, Hingham P.L., MA © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Author's Note	p. 11
Introduction	p. 13
1 Establishing Shot	p. 21
2 Fade In	p. 41
3 Smash Cut	p. 74
4 Dissolve	p. 87
5 Wipe	p. 110
6 Jump Cut	p. 127
7 Monster Mash	p. 140
8 The Beauty and the Beast	p. 178
9 Montage	p. 203
10 Iris	p. 236
11 Cross-Cut	p. 258
12 Cutaway	p. 276
13 Fade Out	p. 292
Epilogue	p. 300
Afterword	p. 309
Acknowledgments	p. 311
Sources	p. 313
Interviews	p. 319
Index	p. 321

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