Biography
Patrick was born in London, England, the son of actress Dorothy Turner (d. 1969). He made his professional stage debut in The Life Machine at the Regent Theatre, King's Cross in 1932 following a period in repertory. Thereafter he appeared in many successful plays including the long-running George and Margaret at the Wyndham's Theatre which ran for 799 performances.
His film career was put on hold until after service in World War II during which, as a Lieutenant Colonel in the King's Royal Rifle Corps, he fought in the Middle East, North Africa and Italy.
During the late 1940s and 1950s he became a popular, debonair leading man in British film with notable success in The Sound Barrier (1952), under the direction of David Lean. Exhibitors voted him the seventh most popular British film star with the public in 1952. Patrick later appeared as Race in The League of Gentlemen (1959) and the thought provoking Sapphire (1959), the winner of Best British Film at the 1960 BAFTA Film Awards.
As the 1960s dawned he made a strong return to the theatre, occupying the dual role of actor/director in numerous West End productions including a revival of the Noël Coward work Present Laughter at the Queen's Theatre (1965) and Alan Ayckbourn's Relatively Speaking (1967) at the Duke of York's Theatre.
He married the actress Beatrice Campbell at St James' Roman Catholic Church, Spanish Place, Marylebone, London on 12 January 1951. She predeceased him in 1979 and he died two years later from lung cancer on 21 September 1981.
Read more about this topic: Nigel Patrick
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