Whatever Happened to ‘The Bad Seed’ Star Patty McCormack?
When The Bad Seed premiered in 1956, viewers were so frightened by young Patty McCormack‘s performance as murderous little girl Rhoda Penmark that the movie incorporated a lighthearted curtain call at the end, just to remind everyone that Rhoda was simply a character. Based on the Broadway play also starring McCormack, the film was a sensation, and McCormack earned an Academy Award nomination for the role at only 11 years old, as well as a Hollywood Walk of Fame star soon after. The Bad Seed is Svengoolie’s Classic Horror & Sci-Fi Movie of the Week pick of the week, airing on September 13, 2025, at 8pm ET on MeTV, which got us wondering what McCormack up to today — and as it turns out, the now 80-year-old star is still performing.
McCormack grew up on screen and stage, appearing in a steady stream of television shows and films. Over the decades, she worked on everything from Perry Mason to The Sopranos, where she had a recurring role as Liz La Cerva, mother of Adriana (Drea de Matteo). She tackled serious film roles through the 2000s, appearing as Pat Nixon in the 2008 Ron Howard film Frost/ Nixon, and had a small role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2012 drama The Master. In 2018, she temporarily took over the role of Monica Quartermaine on General Hospital while Leslie Charleson recovered from a fall.
McCormack carved out a career that allowed her to keep evolving. For a long time, she shied away from talking too much about The Bad Seed, feeling that focusing on the past meant she was finished. In recent years, though, she has embraced her place in Hollywood history, and has even returned for several Bad Seed reboots.
Gene Trindl/TV Guide/Everett Collection
In 2018, she had a supporting role in Lifetime’s remake of the story, and in 2022, she returned again in The Bad Seed Returns, this time playing Dr. March, the therapist of the new “bad seed.” It was a clever full-circle moment, especially for fans of the original who recognized her.
McCormack has also returned to the theater, which is where her career first took off. In 2021, she appeared in a revival of Morning’s at Seven in New York, stepping back into the world of live performance for the first time in decades.
“This play is so representative of me,” she admitted to the Observer about her the role. “It’s so much about family and different personalities in one family—the ups and downs, and who they are in the scheme of things. The underlying thread is connection and love. I respond to that. I don’t know why, but I always have.”
Jesse Grant/Getty Images for GBK Productions
Today, McCormack is 80 years old and still performing. She recently starred in Just Another Day at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble in Los Angeles alongside Dan Lauria.
Remind 
HALLOWEEN Collector's Issue
October 2021
This super-sized issue looks at the horror franchise that started them all, HALLOWEEN
Buy This Issue