Patrick Wright(1939-2004)

Patrick M. Wright was a gruff, burly and intimidating constant presence in an alarmingly large volume of delightfully down'n'dirty drive-in exploitation pictures made in the 70s. Patrick was born on November 28, 1939 in San Francisco, California. Stocky and strong-looking, with a thick mustache, a mass of curly brown hair, a husky, muscular, powerful frame, and a blunt, scruffy, rough-around-the-edges demeanor, Wright was frequently cast as stolid jerk cops, ramrod military men, prison guards, assorted vicious villains, and various boorish blue collar working class types. The brother of actress Mary Catherine Wright and husband of 70s B-movie actress Talie Cochrane (they often acted together in a sizable number of films), Wright first began acting in the late 60s. He appeared in three films for director Russ Meyer: "Good Morning ... and Goodbye!," "The Seven Minutes," and "Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens." Wright's most memorable parts include the ineffectual Sheriff Mack in the laughably lousy creature feature hoot "Track of the Moonbeast," a lecherous high school football coach in the hilariously bawdy "The Cheerleaders," the nasty leader of a white slavery ring in the splendidly sleazy "The Abductors," a sadistic goon in Matt Cimber's enjoyably trashy "The Candy Tangerine Man," a hostile gay biker in "Bare Knuckles," the lord of the jungle in the amusingly inane "Tarz and Jane and Boy and Cheetah," the crude patriarch of a hillbilly family in "Sassy Sue," a friendly police sergeant in "Roller Boogie," and the rich sponsor of an illegal cross country road race in Paul Bartel's gloriously outrageous "Cannonball." Wright did guest spots on the TV shows "Wizards and Warriors," "Dynasty," "The Dukes of Hazzard," and "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams." Moreover, Wright directed the entertainingly lowbrow teen sex comedy "Hollywood High," produced the failed horror spoof "Frightmare," and worked on several movies and TV shows in minor behind-the-scenes production capacities. He also acted under the pseudonyms Silver Foxx, Bal Johnson and Michael Wright. Patrick ended his lengthy and extensive film career with a few small parts in a handful of straight-to-video items. Wright died at age 65 on December 9, 2004 in Palmdale, California.