Pat Nye
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Patricia Dorothy Nye,
OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(11 February 1908 – 11 April 1994) was an English actress-manager.Obituary
in ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' 27 June 1994
She had a six-decade career, known in her later years for playing formidable women. She was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(OBE) in the 1946 King's Honours List for her service as a chief officer in the
Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the World War I, First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in ...
during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Early life and theatre roles

Born into a middle-class family in London in 1908, she was the daughter of Elizabeth Innes Hall (1878–1946) and Ralph Nye (1876–1961), a chartered accountant. Privately educated at the
University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...
and
Lausanne Conservatory The Haute école de musique de Lausanne (HEMU, known as Institute of Advanced Musical Studies prior to 2010, founded in 1861 as Conservatoire de Lausanne) is a Swiss music school located in Romandy, the French-speaking western part of Switzerland ...
where she studied music, on her return to the UK she trained as an actress at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...
(''RADA''), making her professional debut in 1933 with the Rep Players at
Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...
, playing Frau Feldman in '' Autumn Crocus'', in the same year playing Martha Brown in ''Gallows Glorious'' at the old Shaftesbury Theatre. Later she joined the
repertory company A repertory theatre, also called repertory, rep, true rep or stock, which are also called producing theatres, is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom ...
at the
De La Warr Pavilion The De La Warr Pavilion is a grade I listed building, located on the seafront at Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, on the south coast of England. The Modern architecture, Modernist and International style (architecture), International Style buildin ...
at
Bexhill-on-Sea Bexhill-on-Sea (often shortened to Bexhill) is a seaside town and civil parish in the Rother District in the county of East Sussex in South East England. It is located along the Sussex Coast and between the towns of Hastings, England, Hastings ...
. From 1934 to 1937 she was the manager of the Theatre Royal in
Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...
, which had previously been the theatrical home of
Sarah Thorne Sarah Thorne (10 May 1836 – 27 February 1899) was a British actress and actress-manager of the 19th century who managed the Theatre Royal at Margate for many years. She ran a school for acting there which is widely regarded as Britain's fir ...
, another actress-manager. At other times she also managed the Park Theatre in
Hanwell Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing. It is about west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post town. Hanwell is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. St ...
and the Pier Theatre in
Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...
. She joined the
Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the World War I, First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in ...
(Wrens) on the outbreak of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
in 1939, reaching the rank of Chief Officer and was awarded a military
OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
. From 1949 Nye was the managing director and actress-manager of the Bedford Theatre in
Camden Town Camden Town () is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London. Laid out as a residential distri ...
, where she appeared as Lady Audley in ''
Lady Audley's Secret ''Lady Audley's Secret'' is a sensation novel by Mary Elizabeth Braddon published on 1 October 1862. It was Braddon's most successful and well-known novel. Critic John Sutherland (author), John Sutherland (1989) described the work as "the most ...
'' which transferred to the
Prince's Theatre The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden. It opened in 1911 as the New Prince's Theatre, with a capacity of 2,500. The current capacity is 1,416. The title "Shaftesbury Theatr ...
in the West End. During Nye's time at the Bedford she introduced such
melodrama A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...
s as ''
East Lynne ''East Lynne, or, The Earl's Daughter'' is an 1861 English sensation novel by Ellen Wood, writing as Mrs. Henry Wood. A Victorian-era bestseller, it is remembered chiefly for its elaborate and implausible plot centering on infidelity and dou ...
'', '' The Bells'' and '' The Silver King''. In the West End Nye appeared as Mrs Playbill in ''For Love or Money'' at the Ambassadors Theatre, and Miss Stulkeley in ''Preserving Mr Panmure'' at the
Arts Theatre The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. It opened on April 20, 1927. History It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members-only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre cen ...
. She made her debut in the United States in 1951 in New York as Statateeta in '' Caesar and Cleopatra'' and Attendant on Octavia in ''
Antony and Cleopatra ''Antony and Cleopatra'' is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed around 1607, by the King's Men at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre. Its first appearance in print was in the First Folio published ...
'' at the Ziegfeld Theatre. She returned to
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
in 1960 to play Hippobomene in '' Rape of the Belt'' and
Lysistrata ''Lysistrata'' ( or ; Attic Greek: , ''Lysistrátē'', ) is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's mission to end the Peloponnesian War between Greek city ...
in a revival of
George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...
's ''
The Apple Cart ''The Apple Cart: A Political Extravaganza'' is a 1928 play by Bernard Shaw. It is a satirical comedy about several political philosophies which are expounded by the characters, often in lengthy monologues. The plot follows the fictional Engli ...
'' at the
Martin Beck Theatre The Al Hirschfeld Theatre, originally the Martin Beck Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 302 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1924, it was designed by G. Albert Lansburg ...
. Back in the UK, Nye returned to the Theatre Royal in Margate hoping to restore its fortunes, but competition from the newly popular medium of television and dropping visitor numbers led to failure.


Film and television

Film appearances included the Matron in ''
Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill ''Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill'' is a 1948 British drama film directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring Marius Goring, David Farrar, Greta Gynt, Edward Chapman and Raymond Huntley. It is based on the 1911 novel of the same title by Hugh Walpole ...
'' (1948), Mrs. O'Brien in ''Rover and Me'' (1949), Ma Benson in ''The Adventures of P.C. 49: Investigating the Case of the Guardian Angel'' (1949), ATS auxiliary in '' Appointment with Venus'' (1951), and the Mayoress in ''
The Mirror Crack'd ''The Mirror Crack'd'' is a 1980 British mystery film directed by Guy Hamilton from a screenplay by Jonathan Hales and Barry Sandler, based on Agatha Christie's Miss Marple novel '' The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side'' (1962). It stars Angel ...
'' (1980). On the Buses as Mrs Blak
Nye profile
Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 30 November 2015.


Death

Pat Nye died in
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
in 1994, aged 86, from undisclosed causes. She never married.Death Index for Patricia Dorothy Nye (1994)
Ancestry.com. Retrieved 30 November 2015.


Filmography


References


External links


Nye profile
bfi.org.uk. Retrieved 30 November 2015. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nye, Pat 1908 births 1994 deaths Actor-managers English film actresses English stage actresses English television actresses English expatriates in Switzerland Officers of the Order of the British Empire University of Lausanne alumni British women in World War II 20th-century English actresses Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Women's Royal Naval Service officers Royal Navy officers of World War II 20th-century theatre managers Lausanne Conservatory alumni