Patricia Benoit

Patricia Eloise Benoit (February 21, 1927 – August 6, 2018) was an American actress whose work spanned both Broadway and television across several decades. A native of Fort Worth, Texas, she attended Paschal High School and Texas State College for Women before relocating to New York City in her late teens to pursue a career in acting. She trained for two years at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Benoit made an early television appearance in Believe It or Not in 1950 before establishing herself on Broadway. Her stage debut in Glad Tidings, in which she played the long-lost daughter of Melvyn Douglas, earned her the Theatre World Award for Outstanding New Talent in 1952. Her Broadway career continued through the following decade with credits that included The Brass Ring, Have I Got a Girl for You!, Time Limit!, and Middle of the Night, with her stage appearances spanning from 1951 to 1963.

Concurrent with her Broadway work, Benoit became widely recognized through her role as Nancy Remington in the NBC television series Mister Peepers, in which she played the eventual wife of the character portrayed by Wally Cox. The on-screen wedding between her character and Cox's drew significant viewership in 1954, and TV Guide featured a photograph of the couple from that episode on its cover. She also appeared on the CBS program I've Got a Secret on May 19, 1954, alongside her Mister Peepers co-star Cox.

In her personal life, Benoit was married to Parton Swift Jr. from 1952 until his death in 1991. The couple had two sons, Jeremy and Nicholas. Benoit died on August 6, 2018, at her home in Port Chester, New York, at the age of 91, survived by her sons and her sister, Doris Wright.