- Born
- Died
- Birth namePriscilla Mullican
- Nickname
- Pat
- Height5′ 2½″ (1.59 m)
- Priscilla Lane attended the Eagin School of Dramatic Arts in New York before she began touring with her sisters in the Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians Dance Band. She was a popular singer with her sisters and, after 5 years, she was signed to a Hollywood contract with Warner Brothers in 1937. Her first film was Varsity Show (1937) where she had the hard task of portraying a singer with the Fred Waring Band. Priscilla was to play the nice girl against the temperamental star played by her sister Rosemary Lane. Over the years, Priscilla would play an assortment of girlfriends, daughters and fiancees. She would team with her two sisters, Rosemary Lane and Lola Lane, to make a series of dramas beginning with the film Four Daughters (1938). That film would be the one that made John Garfield a star. In most of her films, all Priscilla had to do was to look attractive and give a good supporting performance. Priscilla would also co-star with Wayne Morris in three 1938 releases. In The Roaring Twenties (1939), she would play the girlfriend of James Cagney. In Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), which was released 3 years after it was filmed, she would play the fiancee of Cary Grant. When Alfred Hitchcock was unable to get Barbara Stanwyck, he cast Priscilla in Saboteur (1942) where she was on the run with the hero. By that time, her movie career was almost finished and she would appear in just a couple of films over the next five years before retiring in 1948.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>
- SpousesJoseph A. Howard(May 22, 1942 - May 18, 1976) (his death, 4 children)Oren Haglund(January 14, 1939 - May 1, 1939) (annulled)
- She is buried in Arlington National Cemetary (Section 60, Grave 1288, Grid EE-22) next to her husband, Colonel Joseph A. Howard, who was interred with full military honors in 1976.
- Following her retirement, she followed her United States Air Force husband around the world from base to base, often singing at camp shows. They eventually settled in New England and had four children: Joseph Lawrence (1945), Hannah (1950), Judith (1953) and James (1955).
- After Bette Davis refused the lead role in Four Daughters (1938), an adaptation of Fannie Hurst's novel "Sister Act", Priscilla's sister, Lola Lane, suggested to Jack L. Warner that she and her three other sisters star in the tearjerker. Priscilla and Rosemary Lane were signed on, but the oldest sister Leota Lane, who was flown in from New York to test for the part, was deemed unsuitable by the studio. Actress Gale Page replaced her. The movie was a hit, made a star out of John Garfield, and spawned two sequels: Four Wives (1939) and Four Mothers (1941).
- After turning down roles in Money and the Woman (1940) and My Love Came Back (1940), and asking for a raise, Priscilla was put on suspension by Jack L. Warner.
- She had been dating assistant director and screenwriter Oren Haglund. They eloped to Yuma, Arizona on January 14, 1939, but Priscilla left him the following day. The marriage was soon annulled.
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