Patrick
Allen was born in Nyasaland (now Malawi) in Central Southern Africa in 1927 and
was brought up in Canada. Patrick was married to actress Sarah Lawson; they met
at Stratford-on-Avon where Patrick was appearing with the
Royal Shakespeare Memorial Company. Patrick
and Sarah acted in at least one feature film together, where their characters
are also husband and wife; they play Jeff and Frankie Callum in
the 1967 Planet Film Productions horror-feature Night of the Big Heat.
Patrick and Sarah also star as a married couple in the BBC radio series Inspector
West, based on the stories and characters created by John Creasey. The
Inspector West series ran from 1967 until 1971 and in the series, Patrick
plays Inspector Roger West and Sarah plays his wife Janet West.
Patrick
Allen was offered the leading role in the Associated-Rediffusion Television series
Crane whilst at
Stratford-on-Avon, where he was playing Achilles in
Troilus and Cressida. Soon
after the play had finished, Patrick left England, bound for Casablanca, a city
in western Morocco, to begin location filming for the new TV series. Patrick stars
as Richard Crane in the series which ran for 39 episodes from 1963
until 1965. Richard Crane is a successful businessman, but he is tired
of his hectic life in England and decides to move to Morocco. Once there, he soon
establishes himself (ostensibly) as an import/export agent. He also purchases
a small beach-side cafe/bar and a boat. Crane also becomes involved in
some minor smuggling activities.
In
the Television Star Book from 1964, published by Purnell and Sons Ltd,
Patrick Allen talks about the Crane series "I don't think I've ever enjoyed
myself quite as much before I started making the series". He goes on to say
"It is an exciting series, tough to make, and there have been times when I've
suffered. One location was particularly tough. I'd come through all the scenes
without a scratch...that was until the night before we were due to return home
to England. Somebody got off a stool in the hotel bar and toppled it over on my
foot. The result - a broken toe."
Patrick Allen appeared in many films,
plays, television and radio programmes during his career and was a prolific voice-over
artist, heard regularly in numerous television and radio commercials and promotions.
In the early 1970s, Patrick Allen made a series of commercials for Barratt
Homes, in the commercials, he would be flown to a new housing development
by helicopter; one of these commercials was filmed at a new development near the
University of Essex, in the village of Wivenhoe, England.
Click
on the images above to view films (courtesy National Archives Website)
Patrick
Allen also performs the voice-over in the Frankie Goes to Hollywood song
Two
Tribes.
Patrick had originally narrated two Public Information Films in the Protect
and Survive series produced in 1975 entitled, Action After Warnings
and Action After Warnings - Casualties, informing the public what they
should do in the event of Nuclear Fallout in the UK. The Two Tribes voice-over
was a parody of Patrick's Protect and Survive narration. When Patrick
was not working, his leisure time pursuits included photography, sailing and fishing.
Sadly, Patrick died on July 28 2006, he is survived by his wife, Sarah and their
two sons.
BBC
Radio 4, P.M. Programme interview with Jonathan Kydd
In
an interview on the BBC Radio 4 news and current affairs programme P.M.,
broadcast on August 8 2006, its presenter, Eddie Mair asked the actor Jonathan
Kydd to talk about his knowledge of Patrick Allen. Jonathan Kydd talked about
the friendship forged between his late father, the actor Sam Kydd and Patrick
Allen during and after working together on the 1963 - 1965 television series Crane.
Jonathan Kydd was also asked about Patrick Allen - the Voice-Over Artist,
affectionately known as 'King of the Voice-Overs'.
Eddie
Mair: "...he [Patrick Allen] was best known for being 'King of the Voice-Overs',
what made him so good?" Jonathan Kydd: "I think one of the main
things was the ability to read a script instantly and thus save people money..."
"...he had that ability, that excellent ability..."
Eddie
Mair: "And was he proud of it, proud of the voice-over work, or did he
see it as secondary to acting?" Jonathan Kydd: "My knowledge
of him was that he was so terribly good at it, that it was just part of acting..."
Jonathan Kydd continues "I never got the impression that he thought of it
as secondary to being on stage or on television, I have to say he was excellent
at everything...he was a legend" Jonathan Kydd concludes "He
was ever-present in the business that has its fads, he re-invented himself as
he got older by getting on to things where he was almost a, he wasn't a caricature
of himself, but you knew you were getting Patrick Allen because he was so well
recognised."
Thanks,
to Dr Susan Brock (Shakespeare Birthplace Trust)
Patrick Allen at the
IMDb
See Patrick's obituary in The Guardian
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