Patricia Kirkwood
Encyclopedia
Patricia Kirkwood was a British
stage actress who appeared in numerous performances of drama
s, cabaret
, revue
s, music hall
, variety
, and pantomime
s. She also performed on radio, television, and movies. She was the first woman to have her own television series on the BBC
.
, Salford
, England
to William and Norah Carr Kirkwood. Her father was a Scottish shipping clerk. She was educated at Levenshulme High School in Manchester
. At the age of 14 she entered a talent contest at Ramsey, Isle of Man
and was asked to sing on the BBC's Children's Hour. A few months later, in April 1936, she took part in a sketch, The Schoolgirl Songstress at the Hippodrome in Salford. Throughout 1936 Kirkwood appeared in a number of local variety shows including a pantomime
, Jack and the Beanstalk
, in which she played Princess Dorothy. During Christmastime 1937 she took the roll of Dandini at Shaftesbury Theatre, in the pantomime "Cinderella", along with Stanley Lupino
. Over the next two years she worked in cabaret, variety shows, and pantomimes.
and Me and My Pal
along with the Scottish comedian Dave Willis
where she sang 2 musical numbers. This led to her first recording success, "Hurry Home". However, it was at the start of World War II
when her career started to take off. Just as the war started, Kirkwood, aged 18, played in Black Velvet
at the London Hippodrome where she became famous for her rendition of Cole Porter
's song "My Heart Belongs to Daddy
". This led to her being dubbed "Britain's first wartime star".
In 1940 Kirkwood performed "Top of the World" at London Palladium
while German bombs rained down on London. She later recalled in a 1945 Boston Globe interview: "... the sky was bright with searchlights ... [W]hen bombs fell near the theatre, the show went on. No one left, all stayed in their seats because the theatre was safer than the streets. The cast would make bets on who would be onstage when the bombs began to fall." Sometime during the show's run she went up to the roof of the London Palladium and watched the city burning. She later recalled: "My weirdest [war] experience was standing on my roof one night with my mother. On all sides of us, buildings were burning. We looked around--a sea of fire. Oddly, our building didn't burn, but we were marooned. No way out."
During 1939 and 1940 she took movie roles in Come on, George!, and Band Waggon
(1940). It was in Band Waggon that comparisons were made between her and Betty Grable
. Kirkwood continued to perform throughout the rest of the war in West End pantomimes and shows. She played in Lady Behave (1941), Let's Face It (1942), as Robin Goodfellow in Goody Two Shoes (Coliseum Theater, 1944), as the Princess in Aladdin (Theatre Royal, Nottingham), and was featured on radio in A Date with Pat Kirkwood.
and 20th Century Fox
, allegedly for £
250,000. She accepted the MGM contract but had to wait till the war was over to travel to America to start work on a feature film. During this time she featured in another film Flight from Folly
. Three days after V-E Day, Kirkwood went to the United States.
Once in the U.S., Kirkwood spent a number of months waiting for MGM to start production on a film. The movie that she was to act in, No Leave, No Love, co-starring Van Johnson
, required her to lose weight. The studio doctors reportedly had her on thyroid
and pituitary capsules as well as a strict diet. The movie was a disappointment and the production took a toll on the actress' health. She spent eight months in a New York sanatorium
due to a nervous breakdown after the film's unsuccessful release. The breakdown cost her the title role in the musical Annie Get Your Gun
.
The stress also took its toll on her relationship as she separated from her first husband Jack Lister and returned to England.
(1949) and Austin Melford's Roundabout (1949). It was Noël Coward
's casting of her as Pinkie Leroy in Ace of Clubs (Cambridge Theatre
, 1950), written specifically for her, that put her back in the spotlight.
It was around this time that Kirkwood married for a second time to Greek shipowner, Spiro "Sparky" de Spero Gabriele, in 1952. However, he died two years later from a heart attack.
Starting in 1953, Kirkwood began her work on television, appearing in Our Marie (as music hall
star Marie Lloyd
- 1953) and as a panelist on What's My Line (1953). In 1954 The Pat Kirkwood Show began on BBC Television. She would start to take greater roles in television from this time, taking part in My Patricia (1956), Pygmalion (1956), and From Me to You (1957). Many of these roles included her new husband actor, playwright and composer Hubert Gregg
.
In 1954, Kirkwood traveled back to the U.S. for a three-month tour in Las Vegas
performing cabaret at the Desert Inn
.
By the late 1950s Kirkwood had returned to the stage, performing in Chrysanthemum (Prince of Wales and Apollo), Jack and the Beanstalk (a pantomime), Philip Kings' Pools Paradise (1961), Villa Sleep Four (1961), and Robin Hood (Aberdeen, a pantomime).
After Robin Hood, Pat Kirkwood retired temporarily with her third husband, Hubert Gregg, and moved to Portugal
.
was introduced to Kirkwood in her dressing room. Later that evening they went to dinner at Les Ambassadeurs restaurant in Mayfair
. Kirkwood reported later that: "He was so full of life and energy. I suspect he felt trapped and rarely got a chance to be himself. I think I got off on the right foot because I made him laugh." Reporters recalled that the pair danced and had breakfast the next day together.
Peter Knight recalled in a private memoir: "At the amazing spectacle of the royal consort escorting the leading musical star of the epoch, and in the palpable hush that had descended upon the restaurant, the rumor mills began to grind." Rumours of an affair between Prince Phillip and Kirkwood were printed in the daily newspapers. King George VI
was said by courtiers to be furious when he was told about the circulating gossip.
Scuttlebut had it that there was an invitation to go to the 'Sweethearts and Wives' ball with the Prince at the Royal Naval College
as well as talk of her receiving a Rolls Royce. Such rumors of an affair with the Prince continued for many years.
Pat Kirkwood always denied that there was any affair. In 1994 she and her husband, Peter Knight, went to meet Prince Philip's aide, Brian McGrath, asking to send a message to the Queen that she was upset about the continuing tales, and that they were untrue. Philip later stated in a personal letter that the allegations were the "mythology of the press". To which Patricia complained "A lady is not normally expected to defend her honour publicly. It is the gentleman who should do that."
's Hay Fever
(1970), Lady Frederick (1971), Babes in the Woods (1971 - pantomime), A Chorus Murder (1972), Move Over Mrs. Markham (in the title role, 1973). Her last pantomime performance was in Aladdin in Newcastle upon Tyne (pantomime). In 1976 she played Mrs. Gay Lustre in Pinero’s The Cabinet Minister.
During this time she separated from Gregg in 1979 and remarried in 1981 to retired lawyer Peter Knight, her last husband. His comfortable financial position meant that she could leave show business behind although she would appear sporadically in a few appearances in the 1980s. In the early 1990s Kirkwood decided to come back and perform once again. In 1992 she sang "There's No Business Like Show Business
" at the London Palladium
in A Glamorous Night with Evelyn Laye
and Friend. In 1993 she performed to sold-out crowds at Wimbledon Theatre in Glamorous Nights of Music.
Her last public appearance was in Noel/Cole: Let's Do It at the Chichester Festival Theatre
in 1994. Later that year, she appeared on "This is Your Life
", when the opening night of the Chichester Festival Theatre was the topic.
In 1999
Kirkwood published her autobiography, The Time of My Life.
. There was a family history of the disease as her mother Norah had the same illness. She died at Kitwood House Nursing home in Ilkley
, West Yorkshire
on Christmas Day 2007, aged 86. During her last days it was reported that she refused food, which ultimately led to her death. She was survived by her husband Peter Knight. She had no children.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
stage actress who appeared in numerous performances of drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
s, cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
, revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
s, music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
, variety
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
, and pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
s. She also performed on radio, television, and movies. She was the first woman to have her own television series on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.
Early life
Patricia Kirkwood was born in PendletonPendleton, Greater Manchester
Pendleton is an inner city area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is about from Manchester city centre. The A6 dual carriageway skirts the east of the district....
, Salford
City of Salford
The City of Salford is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Salford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Eccles, Swinton-Pendlebury, Walkden and Irlam which apart from Irlam each have a population of over...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to William and Norah Carr Kirkwood. Her father was a Scottish shipping clerk. She was educated at Levenshulme High School in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. At the age of 14 she entered a talent contest at Ramsey, Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
and was asked to sing on the BBC's Children's Hour. A few months later, in April 1936, she took part in a sketch, The Schoolgirl Songstress at the Hippodrome in Salford. Throughout 1936 Kirkwood appeared in a number of local variety shows including a pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
, Jack and the Beanstalk
Jack and the Beanstalk
Jack and the Beanstalk is a folktale said by English historian Francis Palgrave to be an oral legend that arrived in England with the Vikings. The tale is closely associated with the tale of Jack the Giant-killer. It is known under a number of versions...
, in which she played Princess Dorothy. During Christmastime 1937 she took the roll of Dandini at Shaftesbury Theatre, in the pantomime "Cinderella", along with Stanley Lupino
Stanley Lupino
Stanley Lupino was an English actor, dancer, singer, librettist, director and short story writer.-Early career:Lupino began his career as an acrobat and made his stage debut in 1913 and first became known as a music hall performer and played in pantomimes at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane...
. Over the next two years she worked in cabaret, variety shows, and pantomimes.
Stardom and war
During 1938-39 Kirkwood appeared in two films, Save a Little SunshineSave a Little Sunshine
Save a Little Sunshine is a 1938 British comedy film directed by Norman Lee and starring Dave Willis, Patricia Kirkwood and Tommy Trinder. After he is sacked from his job, a man buys a share in a hotel.-Production:...
and Me and My Pal
Me and My Pal (1939 film)
Me and My Pal is a 1939 British comedy film directed by Thomas Bentley and starring Dave Willis, Patricia Kirkwood and George Moon. Two lorry drivers become mixed up with criminals who trick them into an insurance swindle that ends up with them being sent to prison.It was the second and last...
along with the Scottish comedian Dave Willis
Dave Willis (comedian)
Dave Willis was a Scottish comedian and actor. He was a major music hall star in the 1930s and the 1940s in Glasgow. The actor Jerry Desmonde acted as a stooge to him. He made two films for Welwyn Studios co-starring with Patricia Kirkwood in the late 1930s...
where she sang 2 musical numbers. This led to her first recording success, "Hurry Home". However, it was at the start of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when her career started to take off. Just as the war started, Kirkwood, aged 18, played in Black Velvet
Black Velvet (revue)
Black Velvet was a revue at the London Hippodrome in 1938 which included Pat Kirkwood, singing the celebrated song My Heart Belongs to Daddy, and vocalist/impressionist Afrique. The show made Pat Kirkwood into Britain's first wartime star and established her career....
at the London Hippodrome where she became famous for her rendition of Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
's song "My Heart Belongs to Daddy
My Heart Belongs to Daddy
"My Heart Belongs to Daddy" is a song written by Cole Porter, for the 1938 musical Leave It to Me! which premiered on Nov 9, 1938. It was performed by Mary Martin who played Dolly Winslow, the young protégée of an elderly ambassador, Alonzo P. Goodhue...
". This led to her being dubbed "Britain's first wartime star".
In 1940 Kirkwood performed "Top of the World" at London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
while German bombs rained down on London. She later recalled in a 1945 Boston Globe interview: "... the sky was bright with searchlights ... [W]hen bombs fell near the theatre, the show went on. No one left, all stayed in their seats because the theatre was safer than the streets. The cast would make bets on who would be onstage when the bombs began to fall." Sometime during the show's run she went up to the roof of the London Palladium and watched the city burning. She later recalled: "My weirdest [war] experience was standing on my roof one night with my mother. On all sides of us, buildings were burning. We looked around--a sea of fire. Oddly, our building didn't burn, but we were marooned. No way out."
During 1939 and 1940 she took movie roles in Come on, George!, and Band Waggon
Band Waggon (film)
Band Waggon is a 1940 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Arthur Askey, Richard Murdoch and Moore Marriott. It was based on the BBC radio show Band Waggon.-Plot:...
(1940). It was in Band Waggon that comparisons were made between her and Betty Grable
Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...
. Kirkwood continued to perform throughout the rest of the war in West End pantomimes and shows. She played in Lady Behave (1941), Let's Face It (1942), as Robin Goodfellow in Goody Two Shoes (Coliseum Theater, 1944), as the Princess in Aladdin (Theatre Royal, Nottingham), and was featured on radio in A Date with Pat Kirkwood.
American venture and breakdown
Towards the end of the war in 1944, Kirkwood received competing 7-year contract offers from both Metro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
and 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
, allegedly for £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
250,000. She accepted the MGM contract but had to wait till the war was over to travel to America to start work on a feature film. During this time she featured in another film Flight from Folly
Flight from Folly
Flight from Folly is a 1945 British musical comedy film directed by Herbert Mason and starring Patricia Kirkwood and Hugh Sinclair, with music from Edmundo Ros and his famous Rumba Band...
. Three days after V-E Day, Kirkwood went to the United States.
Once in the U.S., Kirkwood spent a number of months waiting for MGM to start production on a film. The movie that she was to act in, No Leave, No Love, co-starring Van Johnson
Van Johnson
Van Johnson was an American film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during and after World War II....
, required her to lose weight. The studio doctors reportedly had her on thyroid
Thyroid
The thyroid gland or simply, the thyroid , in vertebrate anatomy, is one of the largest endocrine glands. The thyroid gland is found in the neck, below the thyroid cartilage...
and pituitary capsules as well as a strict diet. The movie was a disappointment and the production took a toll on the actress' health. She spent eight months in a New York sanatorium
Sanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
due to a nervous breakdown after the film's unsuccessful release. The breakdown cost her the title role in the musical Annie Get Your Gun
Annie Get Your Gun (musical)
Annie Get Your Gun is a musical with lyrics and music written by Irving Berlin and a book by Herbert Fields and his sister Dorothy Fields. The story is a fictionalized version of the life of Annie Oakley , who was a sharpshooter from Ohio, and her husband, Frank Butler.The 1946 Broadway production...
.
The stress also took its toll on her relationship as she separated from her first husband Jack Lister and returned to England.
Revival and television
After returning to England, Kirkwood picked up where she left off with the revue Starlight Roof at the London Hippodrome (1947). She had some recording success with "Make Mine Allegro" during this period and continued to act in West End theaters in pantomimes and venues such as Little Miss MuffetLittle Miss Muffet
"Little Miss Muffet" is a nursery rhyme, one of the most commonly printed in the mid-twentieth century. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 20605.-Lyrics:-Alternative Lyrics:...
(1949) and Austin Melford's Roundabout (1949). It was Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
's casting of her as Pinkie Leroy in Ace of Clubs (Cambridge Theatre
Cambridge Theatre
The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929-30. It was designed by Wimperis, Simpson and Guthrie; interior partly by Serge Chermayeff, with interior bronze friezes by sculptor Anthony Gibbons...
, 1950), written specifically for her, that put her back in the spotlight.
It was around this time that Kirkwood married for a second time to Greek shipowner, Spiro "Sparky" de Spero Gabriele, in 1952. However, he died two years later from a heart attack.
Starting in 1953, Kirkwood began her work on television, appearing in Our Marie (as music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
star Marie Lloyd
Marie Lloyd
Matilda Alice Victoria Wood was an English music hall singer, best known as Marie Lloyd. Her ability to add lewdness to the most innocent of lyrics led to frequent clashes with the guardians of morality...
- 1953) and as a panelist on What's My Line (1953). In 1954 The Pat Kirkwood Show began on BBC Television. She would start to take greater roles in television from this time, taking part in My Patricia (1956), Pygmalion (1956), and From Me to You (1957). Many of these roles included her new husband actor, playwright and composer Hubert Gregg
Hubert Gregg
Hubert Gregg was a BBC broadcaster, writer and stage actor. At the end of his life he was probably best known for the BBC Radio 2 'oldies' shows A Square Deal and Thanks For The Memory...
.
In 1954, Kirkwood traveled back to the U.S. for a three-month tour in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
performing cabaret at the Desert Inn
Desert Inn
The Desert Inn was a Paradise, Nevada, hotel/casino that operated from April 24, 1950, to August 28, 2000. Designed by noted New York architect Jac Lessman, it was the fifth resort to open on the Las Vegas Strip. The property included an 18-hole golf course. Locals nicknamed the resort "The D.I."...
.
By the late 1950s Kirkwood had returned to the stage, performing in Chrysanthemum (Prince of Wales and Apollo), Jack and the Beanstalk (a pantomime), Philip Kings' Pools Paradise (1961), Villa Sleep Four (1961), and Robin Hood (Aberdeen, a pantomime).
After Robin Hood, Pat Kirkwood retired temporarily with her third husband, Hubert Gregg, and moved to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
.
Duke of Edinburgh scandal
During a performance at the London Hippodrome in 1948, after her return to England, the Duke of EdinburghPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
was introduced to Kirkwood in her dressing room. Later that evening they went to dinner at Les Ambassadeurs restaurant in Mayfair
Mayfair
Mayfair is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...
. Kirkwood reported later that: "He was so full of life and energy. I suspect he felt trapped and rarely got a chance to be himself. I think I got off on the right foot because I made him laugh." Reporters recalled that the pair danced and had breakfast the next day together.
Peter Knight recalled in a private memoir: "At the amazing spectacle of the royal consort escorting the leading musical star of the epoch, and in the palpable hush that had descended upon the restaurant, the rumor mills began to grind." Rumours of an affair between Prince Phillip and Kirkwood were printed in the daily newspapers. King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
was said by courtiers to be furious when he was told about the circulating gossip.
Scuttlebut had it that there was an invitation to go to the 'Sweethearts and Wives' ball with the Prince at the Royal Naval College
Royal Naval College
Royal Naval College may refer to:* Royal Naval Academy in Portsmouth , renamed the Royal Naval College in 1806* Royal Naval College, Greenwich * Royal Naval College, Osborne...
as well as talk of her receiving a Rolls Royce. Such rumors of an affair with the Prince continued for many years.
Pat Kirkwood always denied that there was any affair. In 1994 she and her husband, Peter Knight, went to meet Prince Philip's aide, Brian McGrath, asking to send a message to the Queen that she was upset about the continuing tales, and that they were untrue. Philip later stated in a personal letter that the allegations were the "mythology of the press". To which Patricia complained "A lady is not normally expected to defend her honour publicly. It is the gentleman who should do that."
Retirement
From 1970 to 1973, Kirkwood came out of her declared retirement to Portugal to perform again in a number of venues and tours including taking the part of Judith Bliss in Noël CowardNoël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
's Hay Fever
Hay Fever
Hay Fever is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1924 and first produced in 1925 with Marie Tempest as the first Judith Bliss. Laura Hope Crews played the role in New York...
(1970), Lady Frederick (1971), Babes in the Woods (1971 - pantomime), A Chorus Murder (1972), Move Over Mrs. Markham (in the title role, 1973). Her last pantomime performance was in Aladdin in Newcastle upon Tyne (pantomime). In 1976 she played Mrs. Gay Lustre in Pinero’s The Cabinet Minister.
During this time she separated from Gregg in 1979 and remarried in 1981 to retired lawyer Peter Knight, her last husband. His comfortable financial position meant that she could leave show business behind although she would appear sporadically in a few appearances in the 1980s. In the early 1990s Kirkwood decided to come back and perform once again. In 1992 she sang "There's No Business Like Show Business
There's No Business Like Show Business
"There's No Business Like Show Business" is an Irving Berlin song, written for the musical Annie Get Your Gun and orchestrated by Ted Royal. The song, a slightly tongue-in-cheek salute to the glamor and excitement of a life in show business, is sung in the musical by members of Buffalo Bill's Wild...
" at the London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
in A Glamorous Night with Evelyn Laye
Evelyn Laye
Evelyn Laye, CBE was an English theatre and film actress.-Early years and career:Born as Elsie Evelyn Lay in Bloomsbury, London, Laye made her first stage appearance in August 1915 at the Theatre Royal, Brighton as Nang-Ping in Mr...
and Friend. In 1993 she performed to sold-out crowds at Wimbledon Theatre in Glamorous Nights of Music.
Her last public appearance was in Noel/Cole: Let's Do It at the Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989....
in 1994. Later that year, she appeared on "This is Your Life
This Is Your Life
This Is Your Life is an American television documentary series broadcast on NBC, originally hosted by its producer, Ralph Edwards from 1952 to 1961. In the show, the host surprises a guest, and proceeds to take them through their life in front of an audience including friends and family.Edwards...
", when the opening night of the Chichester Festival Theatre was the topic.
In 1999
1999 in literature
The year 1999 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*June 19 - Stephen King is hit by a Dodge van while taking a walk. He spends the next three weeks hospitalized...
Kirkwood published her autobiography, The Time of My Life.
Death
Kirkwood was diagnosed with Alzheimer's diseaseAlzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. There was a family history of the disease as her mother Norah had the same illness. She died at Kitwood House Nursing home in Ilkley
Ilkley
Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in West Yorkshire, in the north of England. Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the metropolitan borough of Bradford. Approximately north of Bradford, the town lies mainly on the south bank of the River Wharfe...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
on Christmas Day 2007, aged 86. During her last days it was reported that she refused food, which ultimately led to her death. She was survived by her husband Peter Knight. She had no children.
Selected filmography
- Save a Little SunshineSave a Little SunshineSave a Little Sunshine is a 1938 British comedy film directed by Norman Lee and starring Dave Willis, Patricia Kirkwood and Tommy Trinder. After he is sacked from his job, a man buys a share in a hotel.-Production:...
(1938) - Come on George!Come On George!Come On George! is a 1939 British, black-and-white, comedy, farce, musical, racing film, directed by Anthony Kimmins and starring Ronald Shiner as Nat George Formby and Dirk Bogarde. It was produced by Associated Talking Pictures.-Synopsis:...
(1939) - Band WaggonBand Waggon (film)Band Waggon is a 1940 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Arthur Askey, Richard Murdoch and Moore Marriott. It was based on the BBC radio show Band Waggon.-Plot:...
(1940) - Flight from FollyFlight from FollyFlight from Folly is a 1945 British musical comedy film directed by Herbert Mason and starring Patricia Kirkwood and Hugh Sinclair, with music from Edmundo Ros and his famous Rumba Band...
(1945) - No Leave, No LoveNo Leave, No LoveNo Leave, No Love is a 1946 American musical film directed by Charles Martin and starring Van Johnson, Keenan Wynn and Patricia Kirkwood. A soldier returns with his pal from fighting in the Pacific during World War II only to discover his fiancee has married someone else...
(1946) - Once a SinnerOnce a SinnerOnce a Sinner is a 1950 British drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert.-Cast:* Patricia Kirkwood as Irene James* Jack Watling as John Ross* Joy Shelton as Vera Lamb* Sydney Tafler as Jimmy Smart* Thora Hird as Mrs. James...
(1950) - Stars in Your EyesStars in Your EyesStars in Your Eyes is a 1956 British musical film directed by Maurice Elvey.-Plot:As the world of vaudeville gradually loses its attraction, more and more entertainers are losing their jobs. In hopes of fixing their financial problems, a group of entertainers band together and buy a run-down...
(1956) - After the BallAfter the Ball (1957 film)After the Ball is a 1957 British biographical film directed by Compton Bennett and starring Patricia Kirkwood, Laurence Harvey and Jerry Stovin...
(1957)