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Patsy Kensit

Patsy Kensit (born March 4, 1968) is a British actress. She has starred in several prominent films but is perhaps more well-known for her three celebrity marriages.

She was born Patsy Jude Kensit in Hounslow, London, daughter of Billy "The Dip" Kensit, a small time pickpocket and thief, and with Reggie Kray as her godfather. It soon became clear that Patsy was to become an actress. Aged only four, she appeared in a television advert for Birds Eye Peas. In 1974 she had her first role in a movie; The Great Gatsby starring Mia Farrow.

In 1985 Kensit was the lead singer of band Eighth Wonder . The band had three Top 40 singles ("Stay with me", "I'm not scared" and "Cross My Heart") but television appearances on programmes like Top of the Pops gave much needed exposure to Kensit.

Her big break came in 1986 when she was selected to play Crepe Suzette, the female lead in the movie Absolute Beginners , with David Bowie as her co-star. The film was critically panned and was also box office flop. Another notable film role was in Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), in which she played Rika van den Haas, the South African consulate secretary that cop Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) falls in love with. Kensit attracted ridicule for stating in an interview that she was a serious actress and did not trade just on her looks before doing gratuitous nude in three films back to back.

Patsy has been married three times. 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 1997 she married Liam Gallagher from Oasis. Kensit and Gallagher had a son, Lennon, named after John Lennon. They divorced in 2000.

Her last starring role was in the Newcastle based flop The One and Only which failed to get wide distribution.

In 2004 Kensit joined the cast of British soap opera Emmerdale, playing the role of Sadie King, and also regularly featured in the third series of Channel 4's Bo Selecta.

Last updated: 05-17-2005 03:50:45