Paula Patton

Paula Patton was born in Los Angeles, California, to Joyce (Vanraden) and Charles Patton. Her father is African-American . her mother, who is caucasian, has German, English, and Dutch roots. While growing up in the area, her family lived in front of the 20th Century Fox lot. She was an avid film enthusiast since her early years. Her mom was a school teacher and her father was an attorney. Paula said that she attempted to escape as an infant through "pretending" to become someone else. Therefore, it's no surprise that she was a part of Hamilton Magnet Arts High School plays. Her favorite role was the one played by Abigail in "The Crucible". After having graduated from the University of Southern California's summer program she pursued film studies and was then given a 3 month task to produce documentaries for PBS. The result was that she began working as a production assistant in documentary films on TV, as well as for Howie Mandel's talk show. Then she began producing documentaries for Medical Diaries (2000) airing on Discovery Health Channel. Paula now professes that she enjoyed her work, however, her goal remains the same as it was when she was younger, so she took acting lessons and shifted gears to become a performer. She became a star within a matter of days and was featured in Hitch (2006), Idlewild (2006), and Deja Vu (2006) as the female leading lady.