This page uses content from the Patsy Kensit biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.

Patricia Jude Frances Kensit (born 4 March, 1968 in Hounslow, Middlesex) is an English actress and singer, and is also well-known for her three celebrity marriages.

Career

Aged only four, Kensit appeared in a television advert for Birds Eye frozen peas. In 1974 she had her first role in a movie: The Great Gatsby starring Mia Farrow. Many years later, she played Farrow herself in the biopic Love and Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story (1995).

A pupil at the Italia Conti Academy stage school, Kensit's first starring roles were in British children's television programmes such as The Adventures of Pollyanna (1982) and Luna, a low-budget sci-fi series, very unusual in some of its ideas. After the first season of the show's short run, Kensit left and was replaced by Joanna Wyatt. She also appeared as Estella in a BBC adaptation of Great Expectations (1981), and as Eppie in an adaptation of Silas Marner, with Ben Kingsley, in 1985.

Her big break came in 1986 when she was selected to play Crêpe Suzette, the female lead in the movie Absolute Beginners, co-starring David Bowie. The film was critically panned and was a box office flop. By 1989 she was taking on more "adult" roles in films such as Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), in which she played Rika van den Haas, the South African consulate secretary whom cop Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) falls in love with. Her movie Angels & Insects (1995), with Kristin Scott Thomas and Mark Rylance, was nominated for an Academy Award for Costume Design, but controversial because of its sex scenes.

Her last starring role was in the Newcastle-based flop The One and Only, which failed to get wide distribution.

In 2004 Kensit joined the cast of British soap opera Emmerdale, playing the character Sadie King, and also regularly featured in the third series of Channel 4's Bo Selecta and its 2005 spin-off series A Bear's Tail.

In September and October 2005 she appeared as a celebrity contestant in Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon, progressing through to Play Your Cards Right before getting knocked out by Carol Vorderman, the eventual winner of the series.

Kensit left Emmerdale in September 2006 as part of a dramatic week of episodes which coincided with Jeff Hordley's exit from the show. Hordley's character Cain Dingle and Sadie hatched an elaborate kidnap plan involving Tom King - they set up the transfer of £2 million from the Kings to Cain in order for Tom to be released, however Cain double crossed Sadie. Her last appearance was at an airstrip watching Cain fly away, leaving her penniless and alone.

Patsy is now a member of the Holby City cast, playing nurse Eliza Clark. She was due to begin filming on Holby City in August 2006, however it appears that she did not begin filming with the show until September, meaning that she will not be on-screen for a few months yet. As Holby City is filmed anywhere between 3 to 5 months in advance, Patsy could appear as early as late November or as late as January next year.

She was a special guest host on The Friday Night Project on 23 June 2006 with band Placebo. She appeared as The Grand High Witch of all the World at the Children's Party at the Palace in celebration of the Queen's 80th birthday in 2006.

Music career

In 1985 Kensit was the lead singer of band Eighth Wonder. The band had three Top 40 singles ("Stay With Me", "Cross My Heart" and top-10 hit "I'm Not Scared" which was produced by the Pet Shop Boys and was featured in the Lethal Weapon 2 sequel she appeared in) and appearances on television programmes like Top of the Pops gave much needed exposure to Kensit.

She dueted with Eros Ramazzotti on La luce buona delle stelle (in translation, The beautiful light of the stars).

Patsy has most recently starred on the Charlotte Church show on Channel 4 in the UK.

Personal life

Kensit has been married three times. All her husbands have been musicians. In 1988 she married Dan Donovan of band Big Audio Dynamite. In 1992 she married Jim Kerr, lead singer of Simple Minds. During her second marriage she gave birth to her first child, James. In 1997 she married Liam Gallagher from Oasis. Kensit and Gallagher had a son, Lennon, named after John Lennon. They divorced in 2000.

She recently split from Matt Holbrook and is now dating rap artist and beatboxer Killa Kela. She was spotted enjoying Kela's performance at the Sprite Urban Games sports festival at London's Clapham Common in early July 2006 .

Trivia

• Kensit infamously stated, "All I want is to be more famous than anything or anyone" in the 1980s.
• One of her favourite comedians is Tommy Cooper.
• She has three tattoos: on her back; above the blade of her left foot (Gaelic words); and on her ankle.
• She loves football and supports Rangers and Tottenham Hotspur.
• She changed a tattoo of her ex-husband's name from Liam to the name of their son, Lennon.
• For her role in the film Angels and Insects she complied with director Philip Haas' request to bleach her pubic hair.
• Kensit auditioned for the part of Captain Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager.
• Patsy loves beards and dogs.
• Her favourite food is honey
• Has spoken openly about her breast augmentation after her marriage to Liam Gallagher.

External links

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