Patricia Noel Driscoll (17 December 1927 – 2 January 2020) was a British and Irish actress, who has appeared both on television and in films.''Picture Show Who's Who on the Screen'' (Amalgamated Press • London) 956p40

Television work

Trained as an actress at

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Se ...

, Driscoll made her first television appearances in 1953 on ''Whirligig'' and then as a police sergeant in the series '' Scotland Yard'' in the episode "The Silent Witness". From 1955 to 1957, she introduced ''

Picture Book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

'', a BBC Television series that appeared on Mondays as part of the ''

Watch with Mother ''Watch with Mother'' was a cycle of children's programmes created by Freda Lingstrom and Maria Bird. Broadcast by BBC Television from 1952 until 1975, it was the first BBC television series aimed specifically at pre-school children, a developme ...

'' cycle and encouraged children to make things. She had a catchphrase: "Do you think you could do this? – I am sure you could if you tried". Driscoll left ''Picture Book'' in 1957 to take over from

Bernadette O'Farrell Bernadette O'Farrell (30 January 1924 – 26 September 1999) was an Irish actress. She was born in Birr, County Offaly, Irish Free State. She was married to the film writer, director and producer Frank Launder from 1950 until his death in 1997 ...

the part of

Maid Marian Maid Marian is the heroine of the Robin Hood legend in English folklore, often taken to be his lover. She is not mentioned in the early, medieval versions of the legend, but was the subject of at least two plays by 1600. Her history and circums ...

opposite

Richard Greene Richard Marius Joseph Greene (25 August 1918 – 1 June 1985) was a noted English film and television actor. A matinée idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series ' ...

in the ITV series ''

The Adventures of Robin Hood ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' is a 1938 American Technicolor swashbuckler film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke, directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, and stars Errol Flynn, Olivia d ...

'' for 37 episodes in series 3 and 4. Her place in ''Picture Book'' was taken by

Vera McKechnie Vera McKechnie (born 1927) is a retired British presenter who was one of the first presenters at the start of BBC Children's Television in the early 1950s. Television career McKechnie began her career when the BBC resumed TV broadcasts after the S ...

in a further series in 1962–63. Driscoll’s other numerous television appearances included: ''The Vise'' (1958), ''Hawaiian Eye'' (1959), ''Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse: Murder in Gratitude'' (1959), ''

Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again b ...

'' (1961 & 1964), ''Second Time Around'' (six episodes, 1974), '' The Good Life'' (1977), ''Kidnapped'' (mini-series, 1978), and '' Into The Labyrinth'' (1981). One of her last roles used her voice in an animation called ''Bye-Bye Bin Laden'' (2009).

Filmography

Personal life and death

Driscoll was married to British actor

Duncan Lamont Duncan William Ferguson Lamont (17 June 1918 – 19 December 1978) was a British actor.Brian McFarlane (Ed): ''The Encyclopedia of British Film'' (BFI/Methuen • London • 2000) p397''Picture Show Who's Who on the Screen'' (Amalgamated Pre ...

until his death from a heart attack at the age of 60 in 1978. He too had appeared in ''The Adventures of Robin Hood''. They had two children together. She died in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

on 2 January 2020, at the age of 92.Equity Magazine, Spring/Summer 2021, In Memoriam Part 1
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Driscoll, Patricia 1927 births 2020 deaths British film actresses British television actresses Educational broadcasting in the United Kingdom Irish film actresses Irish television actresses People from County Cork