Patt Shea

Patricia Carmody was born in Sacramento, California, the daughter of William P. Carmody and Margaret M. Carmody. Her father was a real estate agent. The Carmody family were Catholic; her sister became a nun.{{Cite news |date=1992-08-02 |title=Obituary for Margaret M Carmody |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sacramento-bee-obituary-for-margaret/160261391/ |access-date=2024-12-04 |work=The Sacramento Bee |pages=32}} She graduated from St. Francis High School and Immaculate Heart College. She also attended Sacramento Junior College,{{Cite news |date=1950-06-18 |title=Campus Collegiates |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sacramento-union-campus-collegiates/160279805/ |access-date=2024-12-04 |work=The Sacramento Union |pages=33 |via=Newspapers.com}} and took writing classes at UCLA.{{Cite web |last=Barnes |first=Mike |date=2024-08-17 |title=Patt Shea, Writer on ‘All in the Family’ and ‘Archie Bunker’s Place,’ Dies at 93 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/patt-shea-dead-all-in-the-family-archie-bunkers-place-1235977645/ |access-date=2024-12-03 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}

Shea wrote and was a story editor in television, especially for sitcoms, often with her writing partner Harriett Weiss. Shea and Weiss wrote the final episode of All in the Family, "Too Good Edith".{{Cite book |last=Cullen |first=Jim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D2-CEAAAQBAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PA118&dq=Patt%20Shea&pg=PA118#v=onepage&q=Patt%20Shea&f=false |title=Those Were the Days: Why All in the Family Still Matters |date=2020-01-17 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-1-9788-0577-4 |pages=118 |language=en}} She received her first nomination for a Humanitas Prize for the episode. She co-created the spin-off show Gloria, and had producer credits on the show; she was also a staff writer for Archie Bunker's Place from 1979 to 1983. In 1980, she testified before a Congressional committee on "media portrayal of the elderly".{{Cite book |last=Aging |first=United States Congress House Select Committee on |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BLserQR37ikC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Patt%20Shea&pg=PA74#v=onepage&q=Patt%20Shea&f=false |title=Media Portrayal of the Elderly: Hearing Before the Select Committee on Aging, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, Second Session, April 26, 1980, Los Angeles, Calif |date=1980 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |pages=74–85 |language=en}}

In 1992, Shea and her husband co-founded Catholics in Media Associates (CIMA), and she was chair of the organization.{{Cite news |last=Dart |first=John |date=1994-07-23 |title=Catholics Debate Entertainment Media's Treatment of the Issues |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-catholics-debate-e/160261091/ |access-date=2024-12-04 |work=The Los Angeles Times |pages=39 |via=Newspapers.com}} She was a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee for Communications. In 2000 the couple traveled to Rome for a gathering of Catholics in the entertainment industry.{{Cite news |date=2000-12-22 |title=Hollywood gaining interest in spirituality, says Catholic couple |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-catholic-advance-hollywood-gaining-i/160260837/ |access-date=2024-12-04 |work=The Catholic Advance |pages=2 |via=Newspapers.com}}

• The Jeffersons (1977–1978, two episodes)
• In the Beginning (1978, two episodes)
• All in the Family (1979, three episodes)
• Sanford (1980, one episode)
• Archie Bunker's Place (1979–1983, 85 episodes)
• Happy Days (1980, one episode){{Cite book |last=Brant |first=Marley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_3XnpqmYAxcC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PA263&dq=Patt%20Shea&pg=PA262#v=onepage&q=Patt%20Shea&f=false |title=Happier Days: Paramount Television's Classic Sitcoms, 1974-1984 |date=2006 |publisher=Billboard Books |isbn=978-0-8230-8933-8 |pages=263 |language=en}}
• Lou Grant (1980–1981, two episodes){{Cite book |last=Daniel |first=Douglass K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g5rhcrA0Oi4C&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PA205&dq=Patt%20Shea&pg=PA205#v=onepage&q=Patt%20Shea&f=false |title=Lou Grant: The Making of TV's Top Newspaper Drama |date=1996-01-01 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=978-0-8156-2675-6 |pages=201, 205 |language=en}}
• Cagney & Lacey (1982, one episode){{Cite book |last=D'Acci |first=Julie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i-BvCQAAQBAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PA126&dq=Patt%20Shea&pg=PA126#v=onepage&q=Patt%20Shea&f=false |title=Defining Women: Television and the Case of Cagney and Lacey |date=2000-11-09 |publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press |isbn=978-0-8078-6096-0 |pages=126 |language=en}}
• Gloria (1982–1983, 22 episodes)
• Mama Malone (1984, one episode)
• Hell Town (1985, one episode)
• Valerie (1987, one episode)
• Nothing is Easy (1987, one episode)
• The Golden Girls (1987, one episode)
• I Married Dora (1987, one episode)
• Marblehead Manor (1988, two episodes)
• Bagdad Cafe (1990, one episode)
• In the Heat of the Night (1992, one episode)

Carmody married director Jack Shea in 1954. They had five children, including Bill Shea and Michael Shea, who became directors. Her daughter Elizabeth died in 2006. Her husband died in 2013,{{Cite news |date=2013-05-01 |title=TV director Shea dead at 84 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/tampa-bay-times-tv-director-shea-dead-at/160260528/ |access-date=2024-12-04 |work=Tampa Bay Times |pages=T38 |via=Newspapers.com}} and she died in April 2024, at the age of 93, in Sherman Oaks, California.{{Cite web |title=Patricia Shea Obituary (2024) - Los Angeles, CA - Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/latimes/name/patricia-shea-obituary?id=55851083 |access-date=2024-12-03 |website=Legacy.com}} Her daughter and caregiver Shawn Shea died in February 2024; the mother and daughter had a joint memorial service in April 2024.{{Cite web |title=Shawn Shea Obituary (1955 - 2024) - Los Angeles, CA - Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/latimes/name/shawn-shea-obituary?id=55851082 |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=Legacy.com}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|0790328}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shea, Patt}}

Category:1931 births

Category:2024 deaths

Category:Writers from Sacramento, California

Category:Immaculate Heart College alumni

Category:American women writers

Category:American television writers