| Patricia Maynard | |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 February 1942 Beighton, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Occupation | Actress, songwriter |
| Years active | 1964–2005 |
| Spouse | Dennis Waterman (m. 1977–1987) (divorced) |
Patricia Maynard (born 16 February 1942) is a British actress. She was the second wife of actor Dennis Waterman, and they have two daughters, one of whom is the actress Hannah Waterman. She is now married to Jeremy Griggs, a circuit judge in the South West of England.
Patricia Maynard was born in Beighton, West Riding of Yorkshire, brought up in Tooting Bec, South London and went to school in Battersea, just down the road from the Old Vic where she learned her love of Shakespeare. She trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Her first five years were spent in rep and the theatre. One of her first theatrical engagements was in a play “Collapse of a Stout Party”, written by Trevor Peacock. In 1966 she joined the RSC, the same year as Trevor Nunn and Terry Hands, with appearances as Katharine to Ian Holmes’ “Henry V” and also Castiza in “Revengers’ Tragedy”. She was at the Bristol Old Vic from 1967-69, where her plays included “Blythe Spirit”, “Comedy of Errors”, “Venice Preserved” (with Alan Bates, Bernard Hepton and Alan Webb, “Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton” by Dennis Potter, and a musical of Nancy Mitford’s book “The Pursuit of Love” written by Julian Slade. She returned to Bristol in 1982, playing Lady India in Anouilh’s “Ring around the Moon”.
Her television work has included playing the heroine Cora in “Last of the Mohicans” in the late 1960s, Tom Baker's first story line in Doctor Who in 1974-75, Robot, playing chief baddie Miss Winters. Two films for television in the 1970s, “When Day is Done”, co-starring with Edward Woodward, and “Lives of our Own”. Her TV Series have included “This Year, Next Year” about Yorkshire hill farmers, “General Hospital”, playing the gynaecologist, with Lynda Bellingham, “Strike it Rich” - two series in the 1980s - and guest appearances in “The Sweeney”, “Minder”, “Jemima Shore Investigates”, “House of Eliot”, and “Campion”. She has appeared in most of the soaps of the time – “Coronation Street”, “Emmerdale Farm”, “Casualty”, “Holby City”, “Crossroads” and “East Enders”, where she played the part of Edwina Dunn, the mother of Laura Beale, who was played by her daughter Hannah.