Gail Patrick Jackson

Gail Patrick Jackson was an American actress and producer.

Jackson graduated from Howard College (now Samford University) in Birmingham, Alabama, worked there for a time as dean of women, and was studying law at the University of Alabama when she was offered a contract by Paramount Pictures and moved to Hollywood.

Jackson made her movie debut with Murders in the Zoo (1933). Other film appearances include Wagon Wheels (1934), Mississippi (1936), My Man Godfrey (1936), Stage Door (1937), Wives Under Suspicion (1938), Disbarred (1939), My Favorite Wife (1940), Quiet Please, Murder (1942), Hit Parade of 1943, and Brewster's Millions (1945).

After appearing in 1947's Calendar Girl, Jackson retired from acting and married Cornwell Jackson, literary agent for Erle Stanley Gardner, creator of the fictional criminal defense attorney Perry Mason. She developed the Perry Mason television show and sold it to CBS in 1957, staying with the show as executive producer through its nine-season run, and returning to helm the series’ short-lived 1973 revival.

Jackson served as president of the Television Academy.

Jackson died July 6, 1980, in Los Angeles, California. She was 69.