Patti Deutsch

**Patricia "Patti" Deutsch** (16 December 1943 - 26 July 2017) was an American voice artist, actress and comedian.

She was a panelist in two incarnations of *Match Game*:

* Match Game (1973)
* Match Game PM

## Early Life

Deutsch was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She later attended Bennington College, Carnegie Mellon, the University of Texas at Austin, and USC, all in four years.

## Career

### Stage

Early in her career, Deutsch starred in local productions of Neil Simon's *California Suite* at La Mirada and Long Beach. She also worked alongside Sid Caesar "as his new Imogene Coca" at the Rainbow Grill in New York City.

### Improv

In the 1960s and early 1970s, Deutsch was a member of Ace Trucking Company, an improvisational comedy group whose members also included Bill Saluga, Fred Willard, George Memmoli, and Michael Mislove. Ace Trucking Company performed regularly on *This Is Tom Jones* and *The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson*, and also recorded a sketch album with RCA.

### Television

From 1972 to 1973, Deutsch was a regular cast member in the final season of *Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In*, where she worked with her future *Match Game* panelist Richard Dawson. From 1973 to 1979, Deutsch was a recurring celebrity panelist in *Match Game*, and became a popular fixture in the number six seat. She also occasionally appeared in *Tattletales* with her husband.

In 1978, Deutsch appeared in the short-lived television series *Grandpa Goes to Washington*, which ran for about four months. During the 1980s, she continued to guest-star in episodes of action series such as *Moonlighting* and *She's the Sheriff*. Her final television credit was a guest role as an old lady in the ABC series *Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23*.

In addition to *The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson*, Deutsch also had guest appearances in *The Merv Griffin Show*, *The Dick Cavett Show*, and *The Steve Allen Show*.

On 7 March 2008, she appeared as a guest in GSN's interstitial program *GSN Live*.

In 2009, along with *Match Game* co-panelists Joyce Bulifant and Nancy Dussault, Deutsch attended the GSN Game Show Awards to accept the "Favorite Classic Game Show" award on behalf of *Match Game*. During their acceptance speeches, Deutsch, Bulifant, and Dussault fondly remembered their friends, host Gene Rayburn and fellow panelist Charles Nelson Reilly.

### Voice Acting

During the early years of the show *The Electric Company*, Deutsch did voice-over work for some of the vignette cartoons with actor and show writer Paul Dooley.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Deutsch did regular voice work for Hanna Barbera in both *Smurfs* and *Capitol Critters*. She provided the voice for Mrs. Dave, the mother of Dr. Dave, in the popular Nickelodeon cartoon *As Told by Ginger*. She also had occasional voice roles in other popular cartoon series, such as *Darkwing Duck*.

Her later work included movie voice-overs for *Tarzan*, *The Emperor's New Groove*, *Monsters, Inc.*, and *Happily N'Ever After*.

### Commercials

Over the course of her career, Deutsch appeared in hundreds of local and national commercials, including classic spots for Folgers coffee and Charmin bathroom tissue. She also did commercials for M&M Meat Shops, a Canadian food retailer.

### Movies

She made a cameo appearance in the 1983 movie *Mr. Mom*, playing The Deli Girl.

## Personal Life

During her improv years, Deutsch met her future husband, comedy screenwriter and playwright Donald Ross. They married in 1968 and had three children, Max Ross, Lee Sachnoff, and Alexis Hill.

Deutsch died at age 73 after a long battle with cancer, at home in Los Angeles. Her husband also battled cancer and died 1 June 2018.