An acclaimed one-woman show about legendary Salford-born singer Pat Kirkwood returns to the city’s Royal Exchange Theatre on Sunday.
Her turbulent life and beautiful songs are brought to life in Pat Kirkwood Is Angry, a solo show first seen in the venue’s Studio last year.
Written and performed by Jessica Walker, it re-imagines the life and songs of the woman who was born in Salford in 1921 and was named Britain’s first wartime star at the age of only 18.
She had shows written for her by Noël Coward and Cole Porter, was the highest paid entertainer in Britain in the 1940s, and made famous songs such as "My Heart Belongs To Daddy" and "Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered".
Recovering from a major nervous breakdown after her seven picture contract with MGM was cancelled after only one film, she rebuilt her career in Britain, first in variety, and then became the first woman to have her own TV series on British television.
But she soon became drawn into the scandal surrounding an alleged affair with the Duke of Edinburgh, rumours of which were to haunt her right up to her death from Alzheimer’s, in an Ilkley nursing home, in 2007.
In 2010, after the death of her fourth husband, Peter Knight, letters from the Duke himself, addressed to Kirkwood, came to light, settling the truth about the affair once and for all…