Pat Nye

Pat Nye in The Mirror Crack'd (1980)

Pat Nye OBE (11 February 1908–11 April 1994) was a British actress-manager^[1] who had a career spanning six decades and who was known in her later years for playing formidable women. During World War II she served with distinction in the Wrens.

Early life and theatre roles

Born as Patricia Dorothy Nye into a middle-class family in London in 1908, she was the daughter of Elizabeth Innes Hall Nye (1878–1946) and Ralph Nye (1876–1961), a chartered accountant.^[2] Privately educated at the University of Lausanne and Lausanne Conservatory where she studied music, on her return to the UK she trained as an actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, making her professional debut in 1933 with the Rep Players at Croydon, playing Frau Feldman in Autumn Crocus, in the same year playing Martha Brown in Gallows Glorious at the Old Shaftesbury Theatre. Later she joined the repertory company at the De La Warr Pavilion at Bexhill-on-Sea.

From 1934 to 1937 she was the manager of the Theatre Royal in Margate, which had previously been the theatrical home of Sarah Thorne, another actress-manager. At other times she also managed the Park Theatre in Hanwell and the Pier Theatre in Lowestoft.

She joined the Women's Royal Naval Service (Wrens) on the outbreak of World War II in 1939,^[3][4] reaching the rank of Chief Officer and was awarded a military OBE. From 1949 Nye was the managing director and actress-manager of the Bedford Theatre in Camden Town, where she appeared as Lady Audley in Lady Audley's Secret which transferred to the Prince's Theatre in the West End. During Nye's time at the Bedford she introduced such melodramas as East Lynne, The Bells and The Silver King.^[1]

In the West End Nye appeared as Mrs Playbill in For Love or Money at the Ambassadors Theatre, and Miss Stulkeley in Preserving Mr Panmure at the Arts Theatre. She made her debut in the United States in 1951 in New York as Statateeta in Caesar and Cleopatra and Attendant on Octavia in Antony and Cleopatra at the Ziegfeld Theatre. She returned to Broadway in 1960 to play Hippobomene in Rape of the Belt and Lysistrata in a revival of George Bernard Shaw's The Apple Cart at the Martin Beck Theatre.^[1][5][6]

Back in the United Kingdom Nye returned to the Theatre Royal in Margate hoping to restore its fortunes, but competition from the newly popular medium of television and dropping visitor numbers lead to failure.

Film and television

Film appearances included the Matron in Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill (1948), Mrs. O'Brien in Rover and Me (1949), Ma Benson in The Adventures of P.C. 49: Investigating the Case of the Guardian Angel (1949), ATS auxiliary in Appointment with Venus (1951) and Mayoress in The Mirror Crack'd (1980).^[7]

Television roles included Martha Washington in Mistress of the White House (1952), Wilma Pierce in an episode of ITV Play of the Week (1963), Mrs Peel in Drama 61-67 (1963), Sister Jenkins in Emergency-Ward 10 (1962-1963), Miss Fitzmeyer in The Plane Makers (1964), Sarah in No Hiding Place (1964), Miss Belton in Sergeant Cork (1964), Mrs Bray in Detective (1964), Farmer's Wife in an episode of Theatre 625 (1966), Mrs Langley in Weavers Green (1966), Polly Jessel in Honey Lane (1967-1969), Mrs Savage in Please Sir! (1969), Hannah in Little Women (1970), Irene at Common Lodging House in Edna, the Inebriate Woman (1971), Perdita in Upstairs, Downstairs (1972), Elsie in an episode of ITV Playhouse (1972), Mrs. Murphy/Miss Martindale/Mrs. Farrell in Z-Cars (1965-1972), Mama Doc in Ace of Wands (1972), Maudie in The Fenn Street Gang (1972), Mrs Blake in On the Buses (1973), Mary Clegwit in Six Days of Justice (1973), Peggy Northolt in Yes, Honestly (1976), Beatrice in Yus My Dear (1976), Sister Raeburn in Doctor on the Go (1977), Frau Schwellenberg in Prince Regent (1979), Maisie Green in A Touch of Spice (1989) and Bag Lady in The Bill (1992).^[7][8]

Nye died in Richmond in April 1994 aged 86.^[9]

References

External links

• Nye on the British Film Institute website