Luana Patten; Actress Began in Disney Films

Luana Patten, an actress who made her debut as a poor white child who was cheered by Uncle Remus’ stories in Disney’s classic 1946 film “Song of the South,” has died. She was 57.

Patten, who had some success as an ingenue as well as a Disney child star, died Wednesday of respiratory failure at Long Beach Memorial Hospital, studio spokesmen said Monday.

One of Disney’s first two contract players, she went on to do three more films in quick succession: “Fun and Fancy Free,” “Melody Time” and “So Dear to My Heart.”

Then Patten took time off to grow up, attending Woodrow Wilson High School in her native Long Beach.

“The best thing I could have done was to become an ordinary teenager and enjoy being one of the crowd,” she told The Times in 1959 after returning to work as an ingenue.

She co-starred in a teen movie, “Rock, Pretty Baby,” and for her old Disney studio did “Johnny Tremain” and “Follow Me, Boys!”

Often compared in appearance to a young Judy Garland, Patten appeared as part of a romantic foursome in the 1960 motion picture “Home From the Hill,” which launched George Peppard and George Hamilton.

Among Patten’s other films were “The Restless Years,” “Go Naked in the World” and “Thunder of Drums.”

She also acted on radio and in popular Western television series, including “Cimarron,” where she met her former husband, the late John Smith.

The twice-divorced Patten is survived by a sister, Marcy Huffine.

Funeral services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday in St. Anthony’s Church, 540 Olive Ave., Long Beach.

The family has asked that any memorial donations be made to American Paralyzed Veterans, the American Lung Assn. or the Roar Foundation.