Patricia Phoenix

Born: 1923-11-26

Patricia Phoenix was an English film and television actress who became one of the first sex symbols of British television through her role as Elsie Tanner, an original cast member of Coronation Street. Phoenix attended Fallowfield Central School. 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 in Manchester and other Northern repertory companies. Phoenix's big break came in 1948, when she played Sandy Powell's wife in the Mancunian Film Studios film Cup-tie Honeymoon, followed by a summer season in Blackpool with Thora Hird in the show Happy Days. Phoenix's love life was often fodder for tabloid stories. Her first marriage was to actor Peter Marsh, whom she married in Bradford Cathedral; the marriage lasted only a year. In 1972, she married her Coronation Street co-star Alan Browning, who had alcohol-related problems and died from liver failure in 1979. She later married actor Antony Booth, the father-in-law of future Prime Minister Tony Blair. Phoenix wrote two volumes of autobiography: All My Burning Bridges (1974) and Love, Curiosity, Freckles and Doubt (1983). She was a lifelong supporter of the Labour Party, campaigning for her son-in-law Tony Blair in the 1983 General Election and helping him win his first seat in a landslide majority, and a practising Roman Catholic. She also owned the Navigation Inn, a pub in Buxworth.


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Jack the Ripper

as Rowdy Woman in the Crowd
Released: 1959-05-28

A serial killer is murdering women in the Whitechapel district of London. An American policeman...

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The L-Shaped Room

as Sonia
Released: 1962-11-20

Jane is young, French, pregnant and unmarried. Bucking convention, she is uninterested in...

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Blood of the Vampire

as Woman
Released: 1958-08-25

A man and wife are terrorized by Mad Scientist Dr. Callistratus who was executed but has...

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Funny Up North

as Herself
Released: 2011-07-23

Documentary featuring a cavalcade of Northern comedy stars including the great Frank Randle,...

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The Unforgettable Pat Phoenix

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2000-04-07

Profile of the actress who found fame in Coronation Street and whose life offscreen was as...

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Hidden Talents

as Nellie
Released: 1986-11-15

Nellie (Pat Phoenix) is weak and bedridden in her aging, decrepit house due to a bad heart....

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Cup-Tie Honeymoon

as Mrs Butler (as Patricia Pilkington)
Released: 1948-06-01

Joe Butler, a soccer player whose father is the company chairman, is faced with a difficult...

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Coronation Street

as Elsie Tanner
First aired: 1960-12-09

The residents of Coronation Street are ordinary, working-class people, and the show follows them...

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Coronation Street

as Elsie Howard
First aired: 1960-12-09

The residents of Coronation Street are ordinary, working-class people, and the show follows them...

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Wogan

as Self
First aired: 1982-05-04

Chat show hosted by Terry Wogan, featuring live studio interviews with famous and notable...

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