Pat Phoenix

Infobox Actor
bgcolour = silver
name = Pat Phoenix


caption = Patricia Phoenix, as Elsie Tanner on "Coronation Street", in a still from an episode first aired in the early 1970s.
birthname = Patricia Frederica Pilkington
birthdate = November 26, 1923
location = Fallowfield, Manchester, Lancashire, England
deathdate = September 18, 1986 (aged age|1923|11|26|1986|9|18)
deathplace = Greater Manchester, England
spouse = Peter Marsh (1951–1952)
Alan Browning (1972–1979)
Anthony Booth (1986)

Patricia Phoenix (best known as Pat Phoenix) (November 26 1923 – September 18 1986) [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE4DA1739F93BA2575AC0A960948260 Article from the New York Times press archive] ] was a British actress who became one of the first sex symbols of British television.

Early life and career

Born in Fallowfield, Manchester, in Northern England, she was born to Anna Maria Josephine Noonan and Tom Mansfield. Her mother later left Mansfield to marry Richard Pilkington. Phoenix attended Fallowfield Central School, Manchester. As a child she nursed early theatrical ambitions, appearing regularly on the radio in "Children's Hour" at the age of 11, after having submitted a monologue. After leaving school, she worked as a filing clerk for the gas department of Manchester Corporation, performing in amateur dramatics in her spare time. She joined the Arts Theatre Manchester, and other Northern Repertory companies.

Her break came in 1948, playing Sandy Powell's wife in the Mancunian Film Studios' motion picture "Cup-tie Honeymoon", followed by a summer season in Blackpool with Thora Hird in the show 'Happy Days'. Exposure led to more serious work with Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop, at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East. She also worked as scriptwriter for ventriloquist Terry Hall and comedian Harry Worth. Though some undistinguished film work followed in 1958 ("Blood of the Vampire" and "Jack the Ripper"), in 1960 she returned to Manchester with her ambition all but spent.

Coronation Street

Her fortunes improved when she was given her best known role as Elsie Tanner, the devil-may-care divorcée who lived at No 11 "Coronation Street". By this time she had changed her name from Pilkington to Phoenix, after the mythological bird that rose from the ashes. Phoenix featured in the programme from 1960 to 1973 and again from 1976 to 1984. Her character became known for her fiery red hair, and was described by prime minister James Callaghan as "the sexiest thing on television". However, during her periods of absence from "The Street", she failed in her attempts to find suitable alternative roles. She finally left the series in 1984, when her character was despatched to Portugal to meet up with an old flame.

Other television and film roles

She did appear in a one-act television play, entitled "Hidden Talents" in 1986 (ironically playing a woman dying of cancer), and starred in a short-lived sitcom "Constant Hot Water" in the same year, as a Blackpool landlady. At this time, she was suffering from advanced lung cancer.

Her popularity also gained her a part in the film "The L-Shaped Room", starring alongside actress Leslie Caron.

'Smiths' record cover

In 1985 she was interviewed for a magazine by long-time fan, the singer Morrissey, who also featured her on the cover of one of the Smiths' singles, "Shakespeare's Sister".

Personal life

Her parents divorced when she was a child and her mother later remarried. Her love life was fodder for tabloid stories. Her first marriage was to Peter Marsh an actor. They married in Bradford Cathedral, but the marriage only lasted a year. She married her "Corrie" co-star Alan Browning in 1972, and both had alcoholism problems. Later she married actor Anthony Booth. By this final marriage, Patricia became the stepmother of Cherie Blair and mother-in-law of Tony Blair.

In the 1960s and 70s, Phoenix lived with Alan Browning at 33 Epsom Mews, Higher Broughton, Salford, about two miles from Granada Studios on Water Street, where Coronation Street is filmed.

Death

Her marriage to Booth on September 10 1986 came just eight days before she died of lung cancer, aged 62. By her request, her funeral service was performed at The Holy Name Church Manchester, with a large brass band; according to "Coronation Street" histories written by show historian Daran Little, she wished the event that marked her death to be as lively as her life.

Among the mourners at her funeral were Tony Blair (Booth's son-in-law), who became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 11 years later.

Autobiography

She wrote two volumes of autobiography: "All My Burning Bridges" (1974) and "Love, Curiosity, Freckles and Doubt" (1983).

References

External links

* [http://www.itsahotun.com/ Photo of Pat Phoenix with details of Mancunian Film stars]
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