James Patterson (June 29, 1932August 19, 1972) was an American actor who won a Tony Award for his role in the 1968 Harold Pinter play The Birthday Party.
Patterson was born in Derry, Pennsylvania. For a time he was a painter, but he later studied acting at the Carnegie Institute of Technology with Herbert Berghof. He met his future wife, actress Rochelle Oliver, while working on an off-Broadway production of The Brothers Karamazov. They married in 1959 and by 1960 were living together in a small apartment on the Upper East Side.
Patterson was both a stage and screen actor. His career started on a Pittsburgh radio show, 'Starlets on Parade', as a boy soprano.
For his stage work, he won both Tony and Obie awards. On screen, he appeared in Robert Rossen's 1964 film Lilith and then made numerous guest appearances on television, including a 1968 appearance as Dave Barca in Hawaii Five-O (episode: 'The Ways of Love').
In 1970, Patterson was in the horror-slasher film Silent Night, Bloody Night, playing Jeffrey Butler, a man trying to sell a house with a terrible history. The film was not released until after his death.
In 1972, Patterson died of cancer, aged 40, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. He was survived by his wife Rochelle and son John.