Paula Patton

Paula Patton is the daughter of Joyce (Vanraden), Patton, and Charles Patton. Her father is African American and her mother who is caucasian, has German, English, and Dutch ancestry. Her family lived next to the 20th Century Fox lot as she was growing-up, and she was a big enthusiast of films from her very early years. Her mother, who was a teacher, and her dad as a lawyer were both avid fans of films. Paula states that she would hide from her mother by pretending to be someone else when she was when she was a kid. It is not surprising that she was involved in Hamilton Magnet Arts High School's high school productions. Her favorite character was that of "Abigail" in "The Crucible". She completed her studies at the University of Southern California, where she completed a summer course in film. The program was a success, and she was awarded a 3-month assignment to make documentaries for PBS. This meant that she was able to serve as a production assistant in documentary films on TV as well as Howie Mandel’s talk show. Later, she produced documentary segments for Medical Diaries (2000 on Discovery Health Channel). Paula claims she loves what she is doing however her goal was the same. She studied acting and then switched to becoming a performer. It was a quick success and within three years, she had acted in parts in major features, Hitch (2005) and Idlewild (2006) and was the female leading lady in Deja Vu (2006) opposite Denzel Washington.