Lorna Patterson (born July 1, 1956) is an American retired film, stage and television actress. As an actress, her best-known roles were as Randy, the singing stewardess, in Airplane!, and as the lead in the television series Private Benjamin.
Biography Patterson was born in Whittier, California, where she attended Rio Hondo College for a single semester. Patterson began her professional career while still in high school, performing melodrama at The Bird Cage Theatre at Knott's Berry Farm.Johna Blinn, "Cooking Chinese Is Fun For Private Benjamin Star", The Palm Beach Post, May 21, 1981.
Career She is a founding member of the Musical Theatre Guild and has appeared in many stage musicals."Lorna Patterson, Founding Member" , Musical Theatre Guild (accessed 2014-08-18).
She played Randy, the blonde stewardess in the 1980 comedy Airplane!. She co-starred with Tony Randall in the 1981 television pilot Sidney Shorr: A Girl's Best Friend. By the time this became the television series Love, Sidney, she had won the lead role in the 1981–1983 television version of the film Private Benjamin, so her Sidney Shorr role was played in Love, Sidney by Swoosie Kurtz. Earlier, she had been a regular on two short-lived series, Working Stiffs and Goodtime Girls.Dan Lewis, "Lorna Patterson Salutes Private Benjamin'", Sarasota Journal, September 2, 1981. She also played Liz Drever in 1984, in The Flying Doctors, episodes 2, 3 and 4, in Australia.
Patterson has also lent her voice to some animated productions including the TV series Timeless Tales from Hallmark, the direct to video film Joseph and his Brothers from The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible, the English dub of the Japanese anime film Ultraman: The Adventure Begins and the Christmas special Nick & Noel.
Personal life Patterson converted to Judaism a few years after marrying Michael Lembeck (his faith).The Long Way Home | Issue 7 | American Jewish University ( AJULA ) formerly University of Judaism, archived by the Wayback Machine here.Melonie Magruder, "From stewardess to cantor", The Malibu Times, May 20, 2009. In 2009 she received her cantorial ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion in Los Angeles."Cantor Lorna Lembeck" , Academy for Jewish Religion (California) (accessed 2014-08-06).
Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1979 Working Stiffs Nikki Evashevsky Main cast (8 episodes) 1979 Lou Grant Girl Episode: "Samaritan" 1979 Beane's of Boston Shirley Brahms TV pilot episode 1979 The Lovebirds Janine Burley TV film 1980 Goodtime Girls Betty Crandall Main cast (13 episodes) 1980 Angie Sissy Episode: "Angie and Brad's Close Encounter" 1980 Airplane! Randy Feature film 1981–83 Private Benjamin Pvt. Judy Benjamin Main cast (39 episodes) 1981 Sidney Shorr: A Girl's Best Friend Laurie Morgan TV film 1984 Hawaiian Heat Alexis Episode: "Yankees vs. the Cubs" 1984 The Impostor Julie TV film 1985 The Flying Doctors Liz Drever TV miniseries 1987 Ultraman: The Adventure Begins Susan Rand (voice) TV film 1987 Hotel Nancy Stanton Episode: "Revelations" 1989 Murder, She Wrote Edie Lorraine Episode: "The Search for Peter Kerry" 1990 Timeless Tales from Hallmark Episode: "Rumpelstiltzkin" 1990 The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible Episode: "Joseph and His Brothers" 1991 Major Dad Sgt. Tammi Rae Perkins Episode: "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Perky" 1993 Basic Values: Sex, Shock & Censorship in the 90's TV film 1993 Nick & Noel Leslie (voice) TV film
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