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Patrick Holt

Patrick Holt

Actor · 1912 – 1993 · Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, UK

Born Patrick George Parsons, Patrick spent part of his childhood in India with his uncle. Patrick was sent to Christ's Hospital, a famous charity school in England, where he formed a close friendship with a boy in the same boarding house, the future film star, Michael Wilding. Some thought Holt was the better actor. He started his career in repertory theatres, and in 1939, landed a lead on the London stage. WWII broke out, and he joined the army, cutting his venture into stage time. He saw service in Burma, Singapore and India, often on secret missions behind enemy lines. By the end of the war, Patrick had rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. After the war, Patrick joined the J. Arthur Rank charm school and established himself as a leading actor of the 1950s second features ('B-films'). Quinlan has called him 'the Dennis Price of B-films..By evolving into a character actor, he continued his career into old age, working on stage and television as well as in the cinema, and was still listed in the Spotlight casting directory at the time of his death. His first wife was the actress Sonia Holm. In 1955, he married Sandra Dorne, with whom he had occasionally costarred. The marriage was happy, and Patrick's said to have never recovered from her death on Christmas Day, 1992. - IMDb mini biography by: Rex Sweeny (adjusted, T Behr) He said that he became an actor because he wanted to be in films. He started in Rep at Hull, where he spent two years before moving to Croydon Rep, which was close to London for agents and talent scouts to drop in. Through this, he got his first film part in 'The Return of the Frog' (1938) playing a cadet in a police college listening to a talk by a police inspector (Gordon Harker). Not only was he paid £5 for two days work and given a couple of lines, but Harker, recognizing his talent, spoke to his agent who asked Patrick to call and see him and offered him the part of Lord Talmadge in the film 'Sword of Honour'. He had always suffered from asthma and partly because of that and partly because he was in a hit West End play, he was thought to be good for public morale.He had his call up for war service deferred twice, but on the third time, while attending a medical wheezing with asthma, he was passed A.1. Training on Salisbury Plain and living in tents and away from the anxiety of wondering where his next part and wage would come from, he had little or no further problems with asthma. When he was at school he had done an officer training course, so it wasn't long before he was made a lance bombardier. By the end of the war he was a Lt Colonel. After being demobbed, he spoke to Leslie Howard's sister who was head of casting at Rank and she sent him to see the director Brian Desmond Hurst who was filming 'Hungry Hill'. With only having his uniform and an ill-fitting demob suit, Patrick turned up for the interview. Brian said, that as the film was nearly finished, he could only offer him the small part of batman, expecting him to turn it down, but he took it, making it his first credited film part and launching his film career. - IMDb mini biography by: Tonyman 5

Movies24

  • Movie6.7

    Thunderball

    1965 · 2.7K votes

  • Movie5.8

    The Whistle Blower

    1986 · 49 votes

  • Movie6.8

    The Wild Geese

    1978 · 295 votes

  • Movie6.1
  • Movie5.9

    The Sea Wolves

    1980 · 111 votes

  • Movie6.8

    Ivanhoe

    1952 · 209 votes

  • Movie5.5

    The Unholy Four

    1954 · 13 votes

  • Movie6.9

    I Was Monty's Double

    1958 · 28 votes

  • Movie5.3

    No Blade of Grass

    1970 · 44 votes

  • Movie5.7

    Genghis Khan

    1965 · 57 votes

  • Movie4.8

    Too Hot to Handle

    1960 · 24 votes

  • Movie5.8

    The Magic Christian

    1969 · 51 votes

  • Movie3.6

    Let's Get Laid

    1978 · 8 votes

  • Movie6.6

    Cromwell

    1970 · 109 votes

  • Movie6.9
  • Movie10.0

    Afternoon of a Nymph

    1962 · 1 votes

  • Movie6.2

    Young Winston

    1972 · 54 votes

  • Movie6.4

    The Dark Avenger

    1955 · 11 votes

  • Movie5.6
  • Movie5.6

    Convoy

    1940 · 15 votes

  • Movie6.6

    Further Up the Creek

    1958 · 7 votes

  • Movie6.5

    The Magic Box

    1952 · 25 votes

  • Movie6.5

    Dentist on the Job

    1961 · 16 votes

  • Movie6.8

    Fortune Is a Woman

    1957 · 16 votes

Series18

  • TV4.3

    Emmerdale

    1972 · 100 votes

  • TV7.8

    The Avengers

    1961 · 157 votes

  • TV7.4

    The Saint

    1962 · 136 votes

  • TV4.8

    No Hiding Place

    1959 · 4 votes

  • TV6.0

    Dixon of Dock Green

    1955 · 4 votes

  • TV8.0

    Mark Saber

    1954 · 2 votes

  • TV6.9

    Poldark

    1975 · 17 votes

  • TV5.1

    Sir Francis Drake

    1961 · 7 votes

  • TV5.8

    Out of This World

    1962 · 4 votes

  • TV7.9

    Survivors

    1975 · 25 votes

  • TV6.7

    Warship

    1973 · 3 votes

  • TV7.5
  • TV6.4

    Ivanhoe

    1958 · 9 votes

  • TV7.7
  • TV6.6

    Father, Dear Father

    1968 · 5 votes

  • TV6.0

    The Three Musketeers

    1966 · 2 votes

  • TV8.0

    The Eagle of the Ninth

    1977 · 4 votes

  • TV10.0

    Shabby Tiger

    1973 · 1 votes