Patsy Kensit Bio

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Patricia Jude Francis Kensit Healy (born 4 March 1968) is an English actress and former singer, well-known for her many appearances on television.

Patsy Kensit: Early life and education

Kensit was born in Hounslow, West London, England and is the daughter of Margie, a publicist, and James Kensit, nicknamed Jimmy The Dip, who was an associate of the notorious London gangsters the Kray twins. He was also reportedly an associate of the rival Richardsons, running long firms for the gang. Her father served time in prison before Patsy was born and later went on to apparently become an antiques dealer. Reggie Kray was her brother's godfather. Her paternal grandfather was a robber and counterfeiter.

Kensit was brought up as a Catholic and attended the independent Newland House School in Twickenham, West London, followed by an independent Catholic school, St Catherine's School (also in Twickenham), funded by her early professional work, and then the independent Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts stage school. Kensit's first tabloid-published relationship was with Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp. At the time she was 15, he was 24.

Patsy Kensit: Career

Patsy Kensit - Early work

At the age of four, Kensit appeared in a television advert for Birds Eye frozen peas. In 1972, she had her first role in the film For the Love of Ada. Her next film role was two years later in The Great Gatsby starring with Mia Farrow-whom she would later portray in the 1995 biopic Love and Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story.

As a pupil at the Italia Conti Academy stage school, Kensit's first starring roles were in British children's television programmes such as The Adventures of Pollyanna (1982) and Luna. She also appeared as Estella in a BBC adaptation of Great Expectations in 1981.

Patsy Kensit - Rise to fame

She started to come to fame in 1985, leading a dual career as the lead singer of the band Eighth Wonder and an actress. Eighth Wonder had two Top 40 singles ("I'm Not Scared" UK #7 and "Cross My Heart" UK #13) and appearing on Top of the Pops, while Kensit also starred as Eppie in an adaptation of Silas Marner, with Ben Kingsley. At the time, Kensit infamously stated: "All I want is to be more famous than anything or anyone".

In 1986, she won the lead female role in the film version of Absolute Beginners, based on the book by Colin MacInnes. In November 1987, she sang a duet with the Italian singer and songwriter, Eros Ramazzotti, entitled 'La Luce Buona Delle Stelle', which in English translates to 'The Good Light Of The Stars'. In 1988, Eighth Wonder had their only UK top 10 hit with "I'm Not Scared", which was written and produced by the Pet Shop Boys. Although the band's success quickly waned, the song appeared in the 1989 film Lethal Weapon 2, in which Kensit, now focused solely on being an actress, played Rika van den Haas, a South African consulate secretary with whom cop Martin Riggs (played by Mel Gibson) falls in love.

Following Lethal Weapon 2, she gave what many observers considered her best performance in 1991's little-seen Twenty-One. Of her role, Variety magazine wrote, "Fans of Kensit get plenty of her; her lovely face and form are always the center of attention. The cool control with which she executes the role is admirable". In 1992, she had a leading role in the British film Blame it on the Bellboy as Miss Carolyn Wright, a desperate real estate dealer in Venice who would stop at nothing to clinch a deal. In 1995, Kensit starred in Angels & Insects, with Kristin Scott Thomas and Mark Rylance, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Costume Design and in which she complied with film director Philip Haas' request to bleach her pubic hair. Kensit's last major lead film role was in the Newcastle-based The One and Only, which failed to get wide distribution.

Patsy Kensit - Return to fame

In 2004, Kensit joined the cast of British soap opera Emmerdale, playing the character Sadie King, and also regularly featured in the third series of Channel 4's Bo' Selecta! and its 2005 spin-off series A Bear's Tail. Kensit's success as the soap super-bitch and in a popular comedy brought her back to the attention of the British public.

In September and October 2005 she appeared as a celebrity contestant in Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon, progressing through to Play Your Cards Right before being eliminated by Carol Vorderman, the eventual winner of the series. Kensit was a special guest host on The Friday Night Project on 23 June 2006 with band Placebo. She appeared as The Grand High Witch of all the World at the Children's Party at the Palace in celebration of the Queen's 80th birthday in 2006. She also became the voice of online gambling website 32red.com.

Kensit left Emmerdale in September 2006, stating that commuting to Yorkshire and the resultant time away from her sons was too stressful. As part of a dramatic week of episodes which coincided with Jeff Hordley's exit from the show. Hordley's character Cain Dingle and Sadie hatched an elaborate kidnap plan involving Tom King - they set up the transfer of £2 million from the Kings to Cain in order for Tom to be released, however Cain double crossed Sadie. Her last appearance was at an airstrip watching Cain fly away, leaving her penniless and alone.

Kensit is presently a member of the Holby City cast, playing ward sister Faye Morton. She began filming in October 2006 and was on-screen from 05 May 2009.

Kensit is signed to Models 1 in London.

Patsy Kensit: Personal life

Kensit has been married four times, and all her husbands have been musicians. In 1988 she married Dan Donovan of band Big Audio Dynamite. In 1992 she married Jim Kerr, lead singer of Simple Minds. During her second marriage she gave birth to her first child, James in 1993. In 1997 she married Liam Gallagher from Oasis. Kensit and Gallagher had a son, Lennon, named after John Lennon. They divorced in 2000, and Kensit later claimed that she had cried every day of the marriage.

By now Kensit's private life had brought her to as much attention as her acting or singing, as the tabloid newspapers detailed the break down of her marriage to Simple Minds singer Jim Kerr and her romance with Oasis singer Liam Gallagher. Her career stalled as she focused on her marriage, over which she claimed to cry every day of the marriage until it ended, as it eventually headed towards divorce. This personal downward spiral led to the resumption of her acting career.

After her marriage to Gallagher ended in divorce, Kensit spoke openly about her breast augmentation, which took her bust measurement from a 32B to a 35C. She has three tattoos: on her back; above the blade of her left foot (Gaelic words); and on her ankle. She changed the tattoo of her ex-husband's name from Liam to the name of their son, Lennon.

After reported relationships with Ally McCoist, Calum Best, David Walliams, Matt Holbrook, and in 2005 with Jean-Christophe Novelli, Kensit began dating rap artist and beatboxer Killa Kela. They split up shortly after a year, with Kensit claiming that she did not see a future with Killa. She soon became involved with the DJ Jeremy Healy and announced that she was marrying for a fourth time on 29 November 2007. However, on the 31 March 2008 it was reported that the pair had mutually split and called off their wedding. They eventually married on April 18, 2009 in an event covered by a magazine.