Patricia Bredin (born 14 February 1935) is an English actress and one-time singer, who is best known as the first representative of the United Kingdom in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

. She took part in the 1957 contest, held in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

and finished in seventh place out of ten entries with the song "

All All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All al ...

", the first ever song sung in English at Eurovision. At 1:52, "All" was for a long time the shortest performance in the history of the contest. The record was broken in 2015 when Finland's

Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät (; ; PKN) were a Finnish punk rock band, formed in 2009 in a charity workshop for adults with developmental disabilities. They are the main focus of the 2012 Finnish documentary film '' The Punk Syndrome''. In 2015, t ...

sang "

Aina mun pitää "Aina mun pitää" (; en, I always have to) is a song by Finnish punk rock band Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät. The song won Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) 2015 and represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. Background and release ...

", which was only 1:27 long.

Career

Bredin took the part of Molly, the island girl, in the original cast of the musical ''

Free as Air ''Free as Air'' is a musical with lyrics by Dorothy Reynolds and Julian Slade and music by Julian Slade. They are the same team responsible for the much better known musical ''Salad Days'', although ''Free as Air'' is said to be "more slick and p ...

'' in 1957. In 1959, she starred in the British comedy film ''

Left Right and Centre ''Left Right and Centre'' is a 1959 British satirical comedy film directed by Sidney Gilliat and starring Ian Carmichael, Patricia Bredin, Richard Wattis, Eric Barker and Alastair Sim. It was produced by Frank Launder. A political comedy, it fo ...

'' with

Ian Carmichael Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE (18 June 1920 – 5 February 2010) was an English actor who worked prolifically on stage, screen and radio in a career spanning 70 years. He found prominence in the films of the Boulting brothers, including ' ...

. This saw British exhibitors vote her one of the most promising British new stars along with

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

and

Hayley Mills Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills (born 18 April 1946) is an English actress. The daughter of Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, she began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising ...

. On

Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...

in 1959 she appeared in the BBC TV's long running variety show '' The Good Old Days'', which was rescreened on Boxing Day 2016 on BBC4 as part of the BBC's celebration of the programme. The following year she had a leading part in another film, the period adventure ''

The Treasure of Monte Cristo ''The Treasure of Monte Cristo'' is a 1961 British film directed by Monty Berman and Robert S. Baker. The film features Rory Calhoun as an army captain in 1815 who goes off in search of a treasure on the island of Monte Cristo. It is a preq ...

'', and also starred with

Sid James Sidney James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. He was best known for numerous roles in the Carry On film series. Born to a mid ...

in ''

Desert Mice ''Desert Mice'' is a 1959 British comedy film featuring Alfred Marks, Sid James, Dora Bryan, Irene Handl, John Le Mesurier and Liz Fraser. A group of ENSA entertainers with the British army in the North Africa desert during the Second World War t ...

''. Bredin succeeded

Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...

as Guenevere in the Broadway production of ''

Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...

''. She played the role from 16 April 1962 until she was replaced by

Janet Pavek Janet Pavek (12 August 1936 – 6 January 2009) was an American operatic soprano and musical theatre actress. Biography Pavek was born and raised in Bronxville, New York and began studying singing at the age of eleven. She won the Miss Eas ...

three months later.

Personal life

In 1964, Bredin married Welsh singer

Ivor Emmanuel Ivor Lewis Emmanuel (7 November 1927 – 20 July 2007) was a Welsh musical theatre and television singer and actor. He is probably best remembered, however, for his appearance as "Private Owen" in the 1964 film '' Zulu'', in which his char ...

. They had no children, and divorced within two years. She later married Canadian businessman Charles MacCulloch, but he died on their honeymoon. As Patricia Bredin-McCulloch she built up a herd of cows on their estate and looked after them for almost ten years before financial complications brought her cattle breeding to an end. She published some reminiscences about this period of her life in ''My Fling on the Farm'' (1989).

Selected filmography

* ''

'' (1959) - Left - Stella Stoker * '' The Bridal Path'' (1959) - Margaret * ''

Make Mine a Million ''Make Mine a Million'' is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Lance Comfort, starring Arthur Askey, Sid James, and Bernard Cribbins. The film parodies the stuffiness of the 1950s BBC and the effect of television advertising in the era. It wa ...

'' (1959) - Herself, Cameo appearance * ''

'' (1959) - Susan * ''

'' (1961) - Pauline * '' To Have and to Hold'' (1963) - Lucy

References

External links

* 1935 births Living people English women singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the United Kingdom Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1957 English women novelists Musicians from Kingston upon Hull Actresses from Kingston upon Hull {{UK-actor-stub