Patricia Crowley, the Golden Globe-winning actress best known for her starring role in the 1960s NBC sitcom “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies” and later appearances on “Dynasty,” died Sunday, September 14, 2025, at age 91 in Los Angeles. She passed away from natural causes just two days before her 92nd birthday.
Her death was confirmed by her son Jon Hookstratten, who serves as executive vice president of administration and operations at Sony Pictures Entertainment. Crowley’s entertainment career spanned six decades, accumulating over 100 screen credits across television and film.
Born Patricia Crowley on September 17, 1933, in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, she was the daughter of a coal miner. As a teenager, she followed her older sister Ann to New York City, where Ann had landed a role in the chorus of “Oklahoma!” on Broadway. Crowley attended the High School of Performing Arts and made her Broadway debut in 1950 while still a high school senior, starring as the lead in the comedy “Southern Exposure.”
Her film career began in 1953 with Paramount’s “Forever Female,” starring alongside Ginger Rogers and William Holden as a young actress seeking an ingenue role. That same year, she appeared in “Money From Home” with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. These early performances earned her the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year in 1954.
Crowley’s most recognizable role came in 1965 when she was cast as Joan Nash in “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,” based on Jean Kerr’s bestselling 1957 book and the subsequent 1960 film starring Doris Day. The NBC series ran for two seasons and 58 episodes from 1965 to 1967. Crowley portrayed a newspaper columnist and mother of four rambunctious boys, living in a castle-like home with her college professor husband, played by Mark Miller, and their giant sheepdog named Ladadog.
Though the show initially struggled with ratings during its original run, it gained popularity through reruns in the 1970s. The series broke traditional housewife stereotypes by featuring Crowley’s character as a working mother who balanced freelance newspaper writing with raising four children.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Crowley continued her television work with appearances on numerous popular series. She played a romantic interest to Lloyd Bridges on the 1975-76 CBS cop drama “Joe Forrester” and had a recurring role as Emily Fallmont during the sixth season of the ABC primetime soap “Dynasty” in 1986. Her character’s storyline ended when Emily was struck by a taxi and killed.
Crowley’s extensive television guest appearances included “The Twilight Zone,” “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,” “The Fugitive,” “Hawaii Five-O,” “Columbo,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “The Love Boat,” “Fantasy Island,” “Friends,” “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Frasier,” and “Murder, She Wrote.” She also maintained a significant presence in daytime television, playing Mary Scanlon in over 250 episodes of “Port Charles” from 1997 to 2003 and appearing in 65 episodes of “Generations” from 1989 to 1990.
Her film work included “Red Garters” (1954), “There’s Always Tomorrow” (1956) opposite Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck, “The Square Jungle” (1955), “Key Witness” (1960), and “The Wheeler Dealers” (1963). In 2001, she portrayed the widow of baseball legend Roger Maris in the Billy Crystal-directed HBO biopic “61*.” Her final screen appearance came in the 2012 film “Mont Reve.”
Crowley was first married to Ed Hookstratten, a powerful sports and entertainment attorney who represented notable figures including Elvis Presley, Johnny Carson, Tom Brokaw, and Vin Scully. The couple had two children together: Jon and Ann Hookstratten Osher. In 1986, she married television producer and executive Andy Friendly, known for his work on “Entertainment Tonight” and Tom Snyder’s “The Tomorrow Show.”
ABC7 Eyewitness News entertainment reporter George Pennacchio paid tribute to Crowley on Facebook, describing her as “such a lovely lady” who always had a smile and kind words. The tribute reflected the warm professional relationships Crowley maintained throughout her career in Hollywood.
Crowley is survived by her husband Andy Friendly, son Jon and daughter-in-law Marion, daughter Ann and son-in-law Robert, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Her sister was singer Ann Crowley. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Share Inc. or the Saban Community Clinic.
