Fate of Jim Patterson's father

[John Isham]

Hello all,

Those of you who have seen Grigorii Alexandrov's 1936 film *Circus* are no
doubt familiar with the child actor Jimmy Patterson, who plays Marion
Dixon's illegitimate child and is most memorably passed around the audience
towards the end of the movie and lullabied in the languages of various
Soviet nationalities.

I have a question regarding Jim Patterson's real-life African-American
father.  On a Radio Svoboda transcript it mentions that the father was
killed tragically in the USSR.  Does anyone know exactly what happened?  Was
he a victim of the purges or of World War II?

Thank you,

John Isham

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