The first ever British Eurovision participant, Patricia Bredin, passed away last Sunday 13 August.
Patricia Bredin was an English actress, born in Hull, England. She represented the United Kingdom in the 1957 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “All”. ranking seventh out of ten contestants with her song “All”, marking the debut of the English language in the Eurovision arena. Remarkably, at a duration of 1:52, “All” stood as the briefest performance in Eurovision’s annals for many years. However, this record was surpassed in 2015 by Finland’s Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät with “Aina mun pitää”, clocking in at just 1:27.
Some highlights of her career:
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In 1957, Bredin portrayed Molly, the island damsel, in the inaugural cast of the musical, Free as Air.
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1959 saw her in a starring role in the British comedic film, Left Right and Centre, alongside Ian Carmichael, earning her a position among the year’s most promising British stars, as voted by British exhibitors. She stood in the esteemed company of personalities like Peter Sellers and Hayley Mills.
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As the calendar rolled over to Boxing Day in 1959, she made her mark on BBC TV’s acclaimed variety series, The Good Old Days. This performance was later showcased again in 2016 on BBC4, as part of the BBC’s tribute to the show.
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1960 brought with it leading roles for Bredin, one in the adventurous period film, The Treasure of Monte Cristo, and another starring alongside Sid James in Desert Mice.
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A pivotal moment in her career came when she stepped into Julie Andrews’ shoes, portraying Guenevere in the Broadway rendition of Camelot. She held this role from 16 April 1962, only to pass the torch to Janet Pavek three months thereafter.
By 1964, she married the melodious Welsh vocalist, Ivor Emmanuel. Their union, however, remained childless and they divorced within a couple of years.
Subsequently, Patricia found love again with Canadian entrepreneur, Charles MacCulloch. However, fate played a cruel twist as Charles passed away during their honeymoon. Adopting the name Patricia Bredin-McCulloch, she passionately reared a group of cows on their estate. This venture continued for a decade, but due to financial hurdles, her journey into cattle breeding concluded. She penned down memories of this chapter in her life in a book titled “My Fling on the Farm” (1989).
Patricia Bredin died in Nova Scotia, Canada, on 13 August 2023 when she was 88 years old.
