Pat Phoenix - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Pat Phoenix was born Patricia Manfield at St Mary's Hospital, Manchester to Anna Maria Josephine "Annie" (nee Noonan), originally of County Galway, Ireland, and Thomas "Tom" Manfield. Phoenix claimed she had also been born in Galway, although she stated some time after that that she was merely agreeing with something her elderly mother had already told the press. Her parents had been married for sixteen years and Pat was eight when her father was involved in a road accident and in court it was revealed that his marriage was in fact bigamous as he had never been divorced from his real wife who was living some miles away and who he had been paying maintenance to for many years. She later described this period in her life as a, "nightmare" saying, "I lost my safe, secure, normal world.". Her mother later married Richard Pilkington. Phoenix attended Fallowfield Central School, Manchester. 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, Manchester, and other Northern repertory companies.

Her break came in 1948, playing 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. Exposure led to more serious work with Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop, at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East. She also worked as a writer for ventriloquist Terry Hall and comedian Harry Worth. Some undistinguished film work followed in 1958 (Blood of the Vampire and Jack the Ripper), and in 1960 she returned to Manchester with her ambition all but spent.