Patricia Lewis Jaffe was born on December 9, 1924, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Jesse H. Finn, a lawyer, and Elsie Crayder. Her mother married Finn in 1922. After her father's death, Rubin M. Lewis became her stepfather.
Jaffe received a Bachelor of Science degree from Wellesley University in Massachusetts in 1945.
Jaffe worked in film and television as an editor and producer. Her early screen credits included editorial work on television programs and films, including The Last Mile (1959), The Connection (1961), and For Love of Ivy (1968). She was the editor of The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973), produced by Paul Monash and directed by Peter Yates.
From 1969, she worked as a film editor with Columbia Broadcasting System, Paramount Pictures, Palomar Pictures, and Maysles Films in New York City. Her work also included television documentaries and music programs. In 1967, she was credited as associate producer of the CBS documentary Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution, produced and written by David Oppenheim.
From 1975 to 1979, Jaffe was an assistant professor at the New York University Graduate Institute of Film and Television. Beginning in 1978, she worked as a producer for television networks and organizations including CBS Cable, ABC News, and the Public Broadcasting Service.
Jaffe subsequently produced and directed programs and films associated with classical music and opera. Her credits included productions for the Metropolitan Opera, Sony Classical, and Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai in Japan. She was a producer of Vladimir Horowitz: A Reminiscence, broadcast as part of Great Performances in 1993, and also worked on productions featuring performers including Kathleen Battle.
Her later television work included productions for PBS's Great Performances and Metropolitan Opera broadcasts. PBS credits list her as a producer and director on several programs and segments.
Jaffe married Robert Jaffe on May 25, 1949; they later divorced in 1978. They had three children: Daniel, Joshua, and Tobias Jaffe.
She married producer and educator David J. Oppenheim on June 13, 1987. Oppenheim was a television and music producer and later dean of the New York University School of the Arts. The Library of Congress identifies Patricia Jaffe as the donor of his papers, which document his work as a musician, educator, television producer, and arts administrator.
