++ Biography ++

Patricia Quinn was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, May 28th 1944. For those of us with far too much time on our hands, this makes her a Gemini, and her Chinese sign is the Monkey!

Patricia's father, James Connolly Quinn, was a Belfast bookie and she also has an older brother and a younger sister.

Pat's acting career began in the theatre, starting with her joining the British Drama League in Belfast.  In 1969 she trained at the Drama Centre and in 1971 was in repertory for six months with the Glasgow Citizen's Theatre. One of her earliest acting credits was in Heathcote Williams' play, "AC/DC" for the Royal Court Theatre, which won an award for Best Play of the Year.  Around this time, Patricia was a Blackjack dealing bunny-girl in London’s Playboy Club for six months, but left as her career quickly began to gather pace; she had starred in several theatrical productions (including Sarah B. Divine) and was just beginning to break into television by 1973, when she was offered the dual role of the Usherette/Magenta in Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show.

Patricia opened the very first performance of The Rocky Horror Show with the song 'Science Fiction Double Feature' on the 16th of June, 1973, at The Theatre Upstairs (Royal Court) in London. The show rapidly become a massive success and moved to bigger theatres (the Chelsea Classic and the Kings Road Theatre respectively). However, as an ambitious, multi-talented young actress, Patricia was keen to move on to other roles and the BBC’s ‘Shoulder to Shoulder’ series, in which Patricia gave a dynamic performance as Christabel Pankhurst,  followed in 1974. This was the perfect showcase for Patricia’s talents and exposed her to her widest audience yet. This was followed by her portrayal of Elizabeth Siddal, in The Love School, a six-part series about the Pre-Raphaelites, in which she starred alongside Ben Kingsley.

The film version of the Rocky Horror Show followed in 1975 and Patricia stepped back into the role of Magenta. Patricia lost her opening song - Science Fiction, Double Feature - to Richard O'Brien. While he sang it, however, the infamous glossy red lips at the beginning of The Rocky Horror Picture Show most definitely belong to Pat! The film wasn’t an instant success but gradually began to acquire a world-wide cult following which today is stronger and bigger than ever. Patricia enjoys the phenomenon surrounding the film and has attended Rocky Horror conventions around the world.

Patricia continued to work hard after Rocky and went on to star in countless productions alongside some of the biggest names in entertainment, and she herself became a household name. Her resumé is a vast, assorted feast of notable performances in television, film and theatre. She has starred in some of television’s most popular, iconic shows (including Dr Who, Minder, I, Claudius, The Professionals, Bergerac and Tales of the Unexpected) and has proved that she can carry off anything with her unique and versatile style.  With her very distinctive voice, an inimitable presence and an effortless scene-stealing ability, there is only one Patricia Quinn. She is witty, charming and gracious to her fans, who hope that there is much more to come from this unique and beautiful lady. This is Patricia Quinn... She's a phenomenon.

© Katy Burchell