Patricia Quinn (British actress): Difference between revisions

Northern Irish actress and singer (born 1944)

Patricia Quinn, Lady Stephens (born 28 May 1944) is a British actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Magenta in the 1975 musical comedy horror film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and the original stage play from which it was adapted. She appeared as Dr. Nation McKinley in the 1981 musical film Shock Treatment. In 2012, Quinn played the role of Megan in the horror film The Lords of Salem.

Early life[edit]

Quinn was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to James Connolly Quinn, a bookmaker, and his wife Rebecca.^[1] She attended the Princess Gardens Grammar School, where she developed an early talent for acting. Following stints at Belfast’s Arts Theatre and British Drama League, she left for London aged 17. In 1969, she trained at the Drama Centre London while simultaneously working as a blackjack-dealing Bunny at the Playboy Club in Mayfair. In 1971, she was in repertory for six months with the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow.

Quinn is known primarily for her role as Magenta in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). In the film’s opening title sequence, the movements of her disembodied lips are synchronised with the lyrics of the title song, “Science Fiction/Double Feature” (the singing voice is that of scriptwriter and actor Richard O’Brien).

She played Elizabeth Siddal in the 1975 mini series The Love School. In I, Claudius (1976), she took the role of the Emperor Claudius‘ sister Livilla. She also played Isla in The Professionals episode “Look After Annie” in 1978. Her other film and TV roles include the semi-sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Shock Treatment. She played “Woman” in Hawk the Slayer (1980). She appeared in the Hammer House of Horror episode “Witching Time” as Lucinda Jessop (1981), Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (1983), and the 1987 Doctor Who serial Dragonfire. Her latest film credit is Rob Zombie‘s The Lords of Salem (2012).

In 2000, Quinn recorded the song “Guts To Dream” with London-based band The Grand. The song was due to form part of an EP titled Open Displays of Affection, but the group had disbanded before it was released. Quinn gave a copy of the unreleased CD to the winner of a Magenta costume contest at the Rocky Horror Picture Show 25th Anniversary Convention in Las Vegas.

In 2002, she returned to Doctor Who, playing an alien queen in the audio play Bang-Bang-a-Boom!. In September 2006, she relaunched her career as a DJ and club kitten, hosting the monthly “Club Myra” night at various venues in Central London. In April 2007, she joined Patrick Wolf at a concert in London, singing “Accident and Emergency”.

In October 2008, Quinn made a guest appearance in a production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in New York City, participating in a question-and-answer session as well as unexpectedly performing “Science Fiction/Double Feature“. She attended a Rocky Horror Picture Show convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey in July 2011, answering questions as well as introducing a performance of the show, staged at the House of Blues.

In May 2013, she served as the honorary Master of Ceremonies for a Rocky Horror Picture Show performance at the Dallas based Texas Frightmare Weekend horror convention.^[2] That same month, she was the guest of honour at a “40th…