Patricia Brake
Patricia Ann Kennedy, better known by her stage name Patricia Brake, was an English actress. Her credits include Lorna Doone, The Ugliest Girl in Town, My Lover, My Son, The Optimists of Nine Elms, Emmerdale, Nicholas Nickleby, A Sharp Intake of Breath, EastEnders, and Coronation Street. She was most notable for her role as Ingrid Fletcher, eldest daughter of Norman Stanley Fletcher, in the BBC sitcom Porridge, and its sequel Going Straight, and for starring as Gwen Lockhead in 128 episodes of Eldorado.
Early life
Brake was born in Bath on 25 June 1942, the daughter of Victor Brake, a butcher, and Doreen Brake. She was educated at the City of Bath Girls' School, and beginning at age 16, she trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, before joining the Salisbury Playhouse for two years, from 1960 to 1961. She moved then to Harrogate for a year, where she was a member of the White Rose Players.Career
She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company where she played Hermia in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Peter Hall, which also featured Judi Dench, Diana Rigg, Ian Richardson and Ian Holm. This was followed by a period in the West End.She began appearing on television in such series as Lorna Doone, The Ugliest Girl in Town, Nicholas Nickleby, and A Sharp Intake of Breath with David Jason, and also had film roles in My Lover, My Son, The Optimists of Nine Elms.
Brake played Ingrid Fletcher, the daughter of Norman Stanley Fletcher, in the BBC sitcom Porridge, and its sequel Going Straight. In 2015, she guest-starred in the BBC ongoing drama Casualty and in Midsomer Murders for ITV.
Alongside her extensive body of work in West End theatres, she also appeared in UK soaps Emmerdale, EastEnders, Coronation Street, and starred in 128 episodes of Eldorado.