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 a 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 an interview
published in the Television
Star Book from 1964 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 is 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 and what health surveillance systems are in place to detect radiation. 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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