Paddy Croft

Patricia "Paddy" Croft (July 1, 1923 – July 27, 2015)[1] was a United States-based actress of Irish descent.

A character actress who usually played Irish roles on stage, in film and on television, she was affiliated with the Irish Repertory Theater in New York City, most recently in 2005 as Madge in a revival of Brian Friel's Philadelphia, Here I Come. She also appeared in Hugh Leonard's Da, and often served as standby or understudy on Broadway in productions of Major Barbara, Night Must Fall, The Plough and the Stars, and The Killing of Sister George, sometimes assuming the roles upon the departure of the star for whom she was covering, the last such occasion being in 1999 in the revival of Night Must Fall, starring Matthew Broderick, when Croft succeeded the departing Judy Parfitt. Her last role on Broadway was in The Dead in 2000.[2]

In 1973, she appeared in Crown Matrimonial receiving good notices for her performance as Mary, Princess Royal supporting Eileen Herlie's Queen Mary.

Croft also appeared on television, including on the long-running NBC series Law & Order and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.[3]