Patricia Roc

Born: 1915-06-07

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Patricia Roc (born Felicia Miriam Ursula Herold; 7 June 1915 – 30 December 2003) was an English film actress, popular in the Gainsborough melodramas such as Madonna of the Seven Moons (1945) and The Wicked Lady (1945), though she only made one film in Hollywood, Canyon Passage (1946). She also appeared in Millions Like Us (1943), Jassy (1945), The Brothers (1947) and When the Bough Breaks (1947). She was employed by the studio of J. Arthur Rank, who called her "the archetypal British beauty" She achieved her greatest level of popularity in British films during the Second World War in escapist melodramas for Gainsborough Studios. Roc began as a stage actress, debuting in the 1938 London production of Nuts in May, in which she was seen by Alexander Korda who gave her an uncredited bit in The Divorce of Lady X (1938) and her in a leading role as a Polish princess in The Rebel Son. She had roles in The Gaunt Stranger (1939), The Mind of Mr. Reeder (1939), and The Missing People (1940). She had a bigger part in A Window in London (1940), the comedy Pack Up Your Troubles (1940), Dr. O'Dowd (1940), Three Silent Men (1940), It Happened to One Man (1940), and The Farmer's Wife (1941). Her parts grew bigger: My Wife's Family (1941), Suspected Person (1942), Let the People Sing (1942), and We'll Meet Again (1943) with Vera Lynn. Roc was top billed in Millions Like Us (1943) from Gainsborough Studios. It was a success and Gainsborough gave her another lead, as a nun interned by the Germans in Two Thousand Women (1944). She appeared alongside two of Gainsborough's biggest stars, Margaret Lockwood and Stewart Granger in Love Story (1944), a big hit. Roc played the jealous rival of Margaret Lockwood. She later commented that although they were required to slap each other's faces, she and Lockwood were always the best of friends. Madonna of the Seven Moons (1945), with Granger and Phyllis Calvert, was another success. Neither of them, however, did as well as The Wicked Lady (1945), where Roc played Lockwood's best friend. It was the most successful movie at the British box office in 1946. Roc's more overt sexuality in such films as The Wicked Lady was downplayed for the American market; her décolletage led US censors to call for retakes to de-emphasise it) and "the Goddess of Odeons", whilst Noël Coward said she was "a phenomenon" and "an unspoiled film star who can act". She was also in Johnny Frenchman (1945). Co starring in that film was Ralph Michael who soon after divorced his wife Fay Compton; Roc was named in proceedings. Her brief move to Hollywood to film Canyon Passage (1946) was a lend lease agreement between Rank Pictures and Universal Studios of British in return for American film actors. During filming, Roc was romantically linked with Ronald Reagan, while her US co-star Susan Hayward stated "that Limey glamour girl is a helluva dame." Roc returned to Britain to make The Brothers (1947), a melodrama that was a commercial disappointment. She was in an expensive British-US co production So Well Remembered (1947) which was a hit in Britain but failed to recoup its cost. Jassy(1947), a melodrama with Lockwood, was a big hit. When the Bough Breaks (1947), another melodrama, performed reasonably well.


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Canyon Passage

as Caroline Marsh
Released: 1946-07-17

In 1850s Oregon, a businessman is torn between his love of two very different women and his...

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The Divorce of Lady X

as Minor Role (uncredited)
Released: 1938-01-15

The morning after a London barrister lets a mystery woman stay in his suite, a friend files for...

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Madonna of the Seven Moons

as Angela Labardi
Released: 1945-01-22

In the early part of this century, Maddelena a teenage Italian girl, is attacked whilst walking...

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Holiday Camp

as Herself
Released: 1947-08-05

The Huggett family go to a holiday camp, and get involved in crooked card players, a murderer on...

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Return to Life

as Lieutenant Evelyne (segment "Le retour d'Antoine")
Released: 1949-09-14

In France in 1946, the difficult return to civilian life of five deportees and prisoners of war...

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Black Jack

as Ingrid Dekker
Released: 1950-11-20

A man who lost everything in the war now smuggles contraband into and out of Spain, but the...

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The Wicked Lady

as Caroline
Released: 1945-11-15

A married woman finds new thrills as a masked robber on the highways.

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Millions Like Us

as Celia Crowson
Released: 1943-06-01

When Celia Crowson is called up for war service, she hopes for a glamorous job in one of the...

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Jassy

as Dilys Helmar
Released: 1947-08-13

In 19th century England, Jassy is a young Gypsy girl blessed with the gift of second sight....

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The Man on the Eiffel Tower

as Helen Kirby
Released: 1949-12-12

A down-and-out student is hired to kill a wealthy woman. When someone else is suspected of the...

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Circle of Danger

as Elspeth Graham
Released: 1951-04-17

An American comes to Britain to investigate the murky circumstances of his brother's death that...

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Johnny Frenchman

as Sue Pomeroy
Released: 1945-10-29

The fisherman from a Cornish village have a friendly rivalry with the fishermen (and one...

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Love Story

as Judy
Released: 1944-11-20

After discovering that she has only a short time left to live, concert pianist Lissa travels to...

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A Window in London

as Pat Thompson
Released: 1940-06-15

A man witnesses a murder that isn't a murder, only to get involved with the magician and his...

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Let the People Sing

as Hope Ollerton
Released: 1942-08-11

An out-of-work comedian persuades a drunken nobleman to join a protest against the closing of a...

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The Brothers

as Mary
Released: 1947-05-07

An orphan wreaks havoc on a remote Scottish island when she causes an age-old feud to be reignited.

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One Night with You

as Mary Santell
Released: 1948-04-25

Two strangers meet when they both miss their trains, and end up spending a penniless day and...

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The Widow

as Diana
Released: 1955-08-01

A woman falls in love with a race-car driver who two-times her for another girl.

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Bluebeard's 10 Honeymoons

as Vivienne
Released: 1960-04-02

A murderer enriches his finances by marrying and then killing off a series of wealthy women.

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Suspected Person

as Joan Raynor
Released: 1942-06-01

After a $50,000 heist in New York, two of the suspected robbers walk free from the courtroom and...

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Two Thousand Women

as Rosemary Brown
Released: 1944-11-06

During the Second World War, three downed English airmen hide out with women's internment camp...

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Three Silent Men

as Pat Quentin
Released: 1940-09-07

An inventor of a deadly weapon to be used against the allies is injured in a crash. Surgeon, Sir...

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The Hypnotist

as Mary Foster
Released: 1957-07-29

Culver is a psychiatrist who uses hypnotism to treat his patients. When Carpenter, a test pilot,...

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The Perfect Woman

as Penelope Belman
Released: 1949-05-23

In need of cash, Roger Cavendish and his valet take a job escorting the perfect woman for a...

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The Gaunt Stranger

as Mary Lenley
Released: 1938-10-27

A lawyer receives a note telling him that he'll be dead in 48 hours - and Scotland Yard must...

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We'll Meet Again

as Ruth Cole
Released: 1943-01-18

A young dancer trying to make it in London during World War II discovers that people like her...

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So Well Remembered

as Julie Morgan
Released: 1947-07-09

A mill-owner's ambitious daughter almost ruins her husband's political career.

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Fugitive from Montreal

as Helen Bering
Released: 1950-11-17

Pierre Chambrac, a French industrialist, and Canadian Paul Laforêt, two former brothers in arms,...

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Dr. O'Dowd

as Rosemary
Released: 1940-06-22

Marius O'Dowd is an Irish doctor who is often drunk. His daughter-in-law Moira dies during a...

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The Farmer's Wife

as Sibley
Released: 1941-04-20

Eden Philpotts' "provincial" comic novel and play The Farmer's Wife was first filmed in the...

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Something Money Can't Buy

as uncredited
Released: 1952-07-09

A British Army Officer returning to civilian life after WWII, starts a catering company with...

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No Hiding Place

as uncredited
First aired: 1959-09-16

No Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by...

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The Saint

as Madge Clarron
First aired: 1962-10-04

Simon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who...

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