Paula Patton

Paula Patton was born in Los Angeles, California, to Joyce (Vanraden) and Charles Patton. Her father is African-American, and her mother is caucasian and is of German, English and Dutch origins. Her family lived across the street from the 20th Century Fox lot when she was growing up and she was a huge fan of films from her earliest years. Her mother, a schoolteacher and her father as a lawyer were both avid film fans. Paula states that she used to hide from her mother by pretending to be a different person as young. It is not surprising that she participated in Hamilton Magnet Arts High School's high school productions. Her most loved role was "Abigail" from "The Crucible". She completed her studies at the University of Southern California, where she completed a program for summers in film. The program was a success, and she was given a three-month assignment to produce documentaries for PBS. She was then hired as a production assistant on documentaries for television and Howie Mandel's talk show. In the following years, she was a producer of documentary segments for Medical Diaries (2000 on Discovery Health Channel). Paula states she loves her work however her goal was the same. She studied acting and changed gears to become a performer. She was almost instantly successful with her roles, including major ones in Hitch (2005), Idlewild (2006) as well as the lead female character in Deja Vu (2006) opposite Denzel.