Pat Kirkwood (actress)

Kirkwood was born in Pendleton, Salford, Lancashire to William and Norah Carr Kirkwood. She was educated at Levenshulme High School in Manchester. During Christmas 1937, she took the role of Dandini at Shaftesbury Theatre, in the pantomime "Cinderella", along with Stanley Lupino. Over the next two years, she worked in cabaret, variety shows, and pantomimes. ==Stardom and the war years==

During 1938–39, Kirkwood appeared in two films, Save a Little Sunshine and Me and My Pal along with the Scottish comedian Dave Willis where she sang 2 musical numbers. She continued to perform throughout the rest of the war in West End pantomimes and shows. She played in Lady Behave (1941), ''Let's Face It! (1942), as Robin Goodfellow in Goody Two Shoes (Coliseum Theatre, London, 1944), as the Princess in Aladdin (Theatre Royal, Nottingham) and was featured on radio in A Date with Pat Kirkwood''. ==American venture and breakdown==

Towards the end of the war in 1944, Kirkwood received competing 7-year contract offers from both Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and 20th Century Fox, allegedly for £250,000. Three days after V-E Day, Kirkwood journeyed to the United States. Once in the U.S., Kirkwood spent months waiting for MGM to start production on a film. The film that she was to act in, No Leave, No Love (1946), co-starring Van Johnson, required her to lose weight. The studio doctors reportedly had her on thyroid and pituitary capsules as well as a strict diet. The film was a disappointment and the production took a toll on the actress' health. She spent eight months in a New York sanatorium due to a nervous breakdown after the film's unsuccessful release. The breakdown cost her the title role in a London stage production of the musical Annie Get Your Gun. ==Revival and television==

After returning to Britain, Kirkwood picked up where she left off with the revue Starlight Roof at the Hippodrome, London (1947). In 1954, Kirkwood travelled back to the US for a three-month tour in Las Vegas performing cabaret at the Desert Inn. By the late 1950s, Kirkwood had returned to the stage, performing in Chrysanthemum (Prince of Wales and Apollo), Jack and the Beanstalk (a pantomime), Philip King's Pools Paradise (1961), Villa Sleep Four (1961) and Robin Hood (Aberdeen, a pantomime). After Robin Hood, Pat Kirkwood retired temporarily with her third husband, Hubert Gregg, and moved to Portugal. ==Association with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh==

During a performance at the Hippodrome, London in 1948, after her return to Britain, the Duke of Edinburgh was introduced to Kirkwood in her dressing room. Later that evening, they went to dinner at Les Ambassadeurs restaurant in Mayfair. Rumours of an affair between Prince Philip and Kirkwood were printed in the daily newspapers. King George VI was said by courtiers to be furious when he was told about the circulating gossip. ==Retirement==

From 1970 to 1973, Kirkwood came out of her declared retirement to Portugal to perform again in a number of venues and tours including taking the part of Judith Bliss in Noël Coward's Hay Fever (1970), Lady Frederick (1971), Babes in the Woods (1971 - pantomime), A Chorus Murder (1972), Move Over Mrs. Markham (in the title role, 1973). Her last pantomime performance was in Aladdin in Newcastle (pantomime). In 1976 she played Mrs. Gay Lustre in Pinero's The Cabinet Minister. During this time she separated from Gregg in 1979 and remarried in 1981 to retired lawyer Peter Knight, her last husband, who was president of the Bradford & Bingley building society. She would appear sporadically in the 1980s. In the early 1990s, Kirkwood decided to perform once again. In 1992, she sang "There's No Business Like Show Business" at the London Palladium in A Glamorous Night with Evelyn Laye and Friends. In 1993, she performed to sold-out crowds at Wimbledon Theatre in Glamorous Nights of Music. Her last public appearance was in ''Noel/Cole: Let's Do It at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 1994. Earlier that year she had been a subject of This Is Your Life'', when she was surprised by Michael Aspel at London's Prince of Wales Theatre. Kirkwood's autobiography, The Time of My Life, was published in 1999. ==Death==

Kirkwood was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. There was a family history of the disease, with her mother Norah having suffered from the same illness. on Christmas Day 2007, aged 86. She and her husband Peter Knight had no children. ==Filmography==