Patrick Fyffe

Patrick Fyffe (23 January 1942 – 11 May 2002) was an English female impersonator, best known for playing the character of Dame Hilda Bracket, alongside George Logan as Dr Evadne Hinge as the duo "Hinge and Bracket". Fyffe's original accompanist was Jim Hardwick, a men's hairdresser, also from Stafford.

Patrick Fyffe
Born(1942-01-23)January 23, 1942
Acton Trussell, Staffordshire, England
DiedMay 11, 2002(2002-05-11) (aged 60)
Wellington, Somerset
Burial placeTaunton Deane Crematorium, Taunton, Somerset
OccupationComic actor, female impersonator
Years active1972-2002
Known forPlaying Dame Hilda Bracket in the comedy act Hinge and Bracket

Early life

Fyffe was born Patrick John Nathaniel Fyffe in 1942 in Acton Trussell, Staffordshire. Many of his immediate family had been active in musical theatre, but he initially trained as a hairdresser, and ran his own salon in Stafford before making a career on the stage. He was a regular star of local amateur productions, but a desire to turn professional took him to London.

Career

Fyffe's early professional appearances included a 1964 production of the musical Robert and Elizabeth, at the Lyric Theatre,[1] (in which his sister played the lead for a period, and he played one of Elizabeth's brothers), and a 1971 production of the same show at the Alhambra Theatre, Glasgow.[2]

With some experience of repertory and a couple of provincial tours behind him, Fyffe invented the cabaret drag act character of glamorous soprano "Perri St Claire". Played on stage as a sophisticated young lady with singing talent, the "Perri" character was sufficiently eye-catching to earn him some television slots, and Fyffe was asked to appear in character in a number of television series of the late 1960s, notably Z-Cars and an episode of Doctor in the House in 1969, when he appeared as a cabaret singer.[3] Fyffe also appeared in the film spin-off Steptoe and Son (1972), as a drag artist who becomes the mistaken object of Steptoe Senior's lust.

In the early 1970s, Patrick Fyffe was performing at the Escort Club in Pimlico, London. His pianist failed to turn up and George Logan was brought in as a stand-in accompanist. Fyffe and Logan formed a friendship and began to work together. Initially, they developed a comedy act featuring Fyffe as a retired opera singer who still thinks she can sing, with Logan as her male accompanist. The idea evolved into a dual drag act featuring the pair acting the parts of two eccentric old ladies, Dame Hilda Bracket (Fyffe) and Dr Evadne Hinge (Logan), appearing as Hinge and Bracket. After initial appearances in gay clubs, they found more mainstream success at the 1974 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and went on to appear in several BBC Radio and Television series. They made many stage appearances, including two Royal Variety Performances.[4][5][6]

Death

Fyffe died in 2002 in Wellington, Somerset, from spinal cancer. He was outlived by his sister, the actor Jane Fyffe. [7]

Selected filmography
  • Steptoe and Son (1972, film) – Arthur
  • Dear Ladies (1983-1984, TV series) – Dame Hilda Bracket
  • ”Random Jottings of Hinge & Bracket” (1982-1989, Radio Series) - Dame Hilda Bracket
  • ”Grace and Favour” (1992-1993, TV series) - Museum Curator

References
  1. "Programme" (PDF). Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  2. Programme Robert and Elizabeth - Glasgow University's Special Collections Department
  3. Network DVD; 'Pass or Fail', Doctor in the House, 1969.
  4. Dixon, Stephen (14 May 2002). "Obituary: Patrick Fyffe". The Guardian.
  5. "About Hinge & Bracket". Hinge & Bracket Official. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  6. Logan, George (26 September 2015). A Boy Called Audrey. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1-5175-3573-5.
  7. "Drag artist who played elderly eccentric Dame Hilda Bracket". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
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