Patsy Ruth Miller was a leading actress in over 70 Hollywood silent and early talking films. She began her career at age 16 as a supporting actress in the Rudolph Valentino vehicle Camille (1921) after she was discovered by star Alla Nazimova during a family vacation to Hollywood. Though she was adequate for her roles, Miller was never considered a major star. Her most famous role was that of the gypsy Esmerelda, played opposite Lon Chaney's hunchback in the classic Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923). She retired from films in 1931, and went on to become a script writer for radio shows and a short story writer. Her short stories garnered her three O. Henry awards. Miller also penned a novel, The Flanagan Girl (1939), and the libretto for a Broadway musical biography of Tchaikovsky, Music in My Heart.
by Sandra Brennan
biography
