Born Patricia Betsy Hrunek, Palmer sported a distinctive short-cropped blonde hair look that lent itself to playing troubled or frightening mom roles, especially in later years.
Palmer appeared in seven Broadway shows. All the original productions had short runs, but she replaced other actresses in long-run shows, notably in in 1977 and in in 1967.
Palmer鈥檚 film career included some distinguished titles, including the movie adaptation of Broadway鈥檚 Mister Roberts with , but she stumbled on what may be her signature role, the murderous mom of horror movie killer Jason Voorhees in the low-budget 1980 鈥淔riday the 13th鈥� and one of its sequels. Thereafter she played similar roles in cinema scarefests like 鈥淭he Fear: Resurrection鈥� and 鈥淪till Not Quite Human.鈥� Her TV credits include "Murder, She Wrote,鈥� "Knots Landing," 鈥淣ewhart,鈥� and anthology shows like 鈥淧layhouse 90,鈥� 鈥淪tudio One in Hollywood,鈥� 鈥淜raft Theatre,鈥� 鈥淟ove, American Style鈥� and 'The Love Boat."
