Actress. She was considered the last survivor from the golden age of the great pre-war British musical stars. Born in Lancashire, Kirkwood made her professional debut at the age of fourteen as a singer on the BBC radio programme The Children's Hour. A year later, she made her first stage appearance at the Royal Hippodrome, Salford, billed as "The Schoolgirl Songstress." The following year Kirkwood starred in her debut film "Save a Little Sunshine." After the success of the revue "Black Velvet" at the London Hippodrome in 1939 she was hailed as "Britain's first wartime star". By 1945 she had been signed to Hollywood studio MGM, appearing in Van Johnson's "No Leave, No Love" in 1946. But the musical was a flop and Kirkwood suffered a nervous breakdown. She then returned to Britain in 1947 with "Starlight Roof" at the London Hippodrome. Noel Coward wrote the West End musical "Ace Of Clubs" especially for her in 1950 and also she played the lead roles in shows of Cole Porter and Leonard Bernstein. In 1954 she became the first female star to have her own one-hour series on British TV, "The Pat Kirkwood Show", and the same year also broke box office records with a sell-out three-month cabaret season at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. One of her last works was her performance in a revival of "Pal Joey" at the Edinburgh Festival in 1976, which was received with critical acclaim.
Actress. She was considered the last survivor from the golden age of the great pre-war British musical stars. Born in Lancashire, Kirkwood made her professional debut at the age of fourteen as a singer on the BBC radio programme The Children's Hour. A year later, she made her first stage appearance at the Royal Hippodrome, Salford, billed as "The Schoolgirl Songstress." The following year Kirkwood starred in her debut film "Save a Little Sunshine." After the success of the revue "Black Velvet" at the London Hippodrome in 1939 she was hailed as "Britain's first wartime star". By 1945 she had been signed to Hollywood studio MGM, appearing in Van Johnson's "No Leave, No Love" in 1946. But the musical was a flop and Kirkwood suffered a nervous breakdown. She then returned to Britain in 1947 with "Starlight Roof" at the London Hippodrome. Noel Coward wrote the West End musical "Ace Of Clubs" especially for her in 1950 and also she played the lead roles in shows of Cole Porter and Leonard Bernstein. In 1954 she became the first female star to have her own one-hour series on British TV, "The Pat Kirkwood Show", and the same year also broke box office records with a sell-out three-month cabaret season at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. One of her last works was her performance in a revival of "Pal Joey" at the Edinburgh Festival in 1976, which was received with critical acclaim.
Bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni
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See more Kirkwood memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
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