Patricia Noel Driscoll[2] (17 December 1927 – 2 January 2020) was a British and Irish actress, who has appeared both on television and in films.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

Patricia Driscoll
Driscoll in costume as Maid Marian
Born(1927-12-17)17 December 1927
Died2 January 2020(2020-01-02) (aged 92)
Kent, England
OccupationActress
Years active1953–2000
Spouse
(m. 1950; died 1978)
Children2

Television work

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Trained as an actress at RADA,[4] Driscoll made her first television appearances in 1953 on Whirligig and then as a police sergeant in the series Scotland Yard in the episode "The Silent Witness" in 1954. From 1955 to 1957, she introduced Picture Book, a BBC Television series that appeared on Mondays as part of the Watch with Mother cycle and encouraged children to make things.[9] She had a catchphrase: "Do you think you could do this? – I am sure you could if you tried". Driscoll left Picture Book in 1957 to take over from Bernadette O'Farrell the part of Maid Marian opposite Richard Greene in the ITV series The Adventures of Robin Hood for 37 episodes in series 3 and 4.[3] Her place in Picture Book was taken by Vera McKechnie in a further series in 1962–63.

Driscoll’s other numerous television appearances included:[3] The Vise (1958), Hawaiian Eye (1959), Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse: Murder in Gratitude (1959), Danger Man (1961 & 1964), Second Time Around (six episodes, 1974), The Good Life (1977), Kidnapped (mini-series, 1978), and Into The Labyrinth (1981). One of her last roles used her voice in an animation called Bye-Bye Bin Laden (2009).

Filmography

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Year Film Role Director Other players
1955 Timeslip (1955 film) - ('The Atomic Man', US title) X-ray assistant Ken Hughes Gene Nelson
1956 Charley Moon Rose Guy Hamilton Max Bygraves
1958 Dial 999 (TV series) ('Fashions in Crime', episode) Det. Sgt. Ann Hawkins Terence Fisher Zena Marshall
1959 Woman's Temptation Betty Godfrey Grayson Robert Ayres
1959 The Child and the Killer Peggy Max Varnel Robert Arden
1960 The Wackiest Ship in the Army Maggie Richard Murphy Jack Lemmon

Personal life and death

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Driscoll was married to British actor Duncan Lamont until his death from a heart attack at the age of 60 in 1978. He too had appeared in The Adventures of Robin Hood. They had two children together.

She died in Kent on 2 January 2020, at the age of 92.[10][11]

References

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  1. ^ Patricia Noel Lamont in the New York State, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1917–1967
  2. ^ [British Film and Television Year Book, Volume 9 (1959), pg. 80]
  3. ^ a b c "Robin Hood Tree, TV programme website with pictures". Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Cherished Television web-site". Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  5. ^ "Patricia Driscoll". BFI. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019.
  6. ^ "Patricia Driscoll Maid Marian". Archived from the original on 12 May 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
  7. ^ "Patricia Driscoll Maid Marian (Series 3 and 4)". tiscali.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 November 2004. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  8. ^ Brian McFarlane (Ed): The Encyclopedia of British Film (BFI/Methuen • London • 2003) p397 [with Lamont, Duncan]
  9. ^ a b Picture Show Who's Who on the Screen (Amalgamated Press • London) [1956] p40
  10. ^ Probate Record: LAMONT, Patricia Noel
  11. ^ Equity Magazine, Spring/Summer 2021, In Memoriam Part 1
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