Patricia Hayes

Early life

Hayes was born in Streatham, London. As a child, Hayes attended the Sacred Heart School in Wandsworth.

Career

She was featured in many radio and television comedy shows between 1940 and 1996, including Hancock's Half Hour, Ray's a Laugh, The Arthur Askey Show, The Benny Hill Show, Bootsie and Snudge, and Till Death Us Do Part. She played the part of Henry Bones in the BBC Children's Hour radio programme Norman and Henry Bones – The Boy Detectives during the late 1940s.

Hayes was cast in supporting roles for films including The Bargee (1964), The NeverEnding Story (1984), A Fish Called Wanda (1988) and was also featured as Fin Raziel in the Ron Howard film Willow (1988).

Her most substantial television appearance was in the title role of Edna, the Inebriate Woman (Play for Today, 1971) for which she won a BAFTA award. She provided the character voice for comedy puppet performances for television and DVDs – e.g. Gran (Woodland Animations, 1982).

In April 1975, Hayes was interviewed by Roy Plomley for Desert Island Discs. A sizeable, yet incomplete, extract is available to listen to and download via the programme's website on the BBC.

In 1977, she appeared on the BBC's long running TV variety show The Good Old Days; she had been an early member of The Players Theatre in London, the famous Old Time Music Hall club, from the 1950s onwards.

In 1985, she starred in the title role of the TV play Mrs. Capper's Birthday, by Noel Coward.

Personal life

She was the mother of British actor Richard O'Callaghan (born Richard Brooke) by her marriage to the late Valentine Brooke, whom she divorced. She never remarried. She was formerly the head of the (British) Catholic Stage Guild, which her son, Richard, now chairs.

She was awarded the OBE in 1988.

Death

Patricia Hayes died in September, 1998 in Surrey but she appeared posthumously in the 2002 film Crime and Punishment which had been filmed in 1993, but delayed due to a legal case.