It’s 45 years since Patricia Hodge made her West End debut. Now she has been summoned to the Palace. Here the Barnes resident talks to Sophie Farrah about theatre, honours and being a spare mum for Miranda
Whether treading the boards or gracing the screen, Patricia Hodge has enjoyed a career both illustrious and diverse – and one which shows no sign of stopping. Earlier this year, in the 2017 Birthday Honours, she was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama. In a scene worthy of the stage itself, however, the vital letter from the Palace nearly ended up in the bin.
“The day it arrived happened to be my late husband Peter’s birthday, and I also had to go to a friend’s memorial, so it was a bit of a gloomy day really,” recalls Patricia. “I opened the post box and saw this rather flimsy envelope that said something about the Cabinet Office, but I thought that it was probably just a political pamphlet, as it was coming up to the election – sometimes they put things on the envelope to make you believe it’s terribly important. So I thought: ‘Yeah, yeah…’”
Eventually, however, Patricia decided to challenge her initial assumption. Instead of shouting the news from her Barnes rooftop, however, she hid the letter in a drawer, as you do.
“At first I didn’t tell a soul – not even my sons! I think I was a bit embarrassed, really; a bit stunned. It was the last thing I was expecting,” she explains modestly.
“I am really pleased though. If there was ever a time when I was going to peel off and do my own thing, this would have been it. But an honour like this prevents you – it’s an incentive, really. I think one can contribute to society in all manner of ways, and that’s what keeps the blood coursing through your veins. It makes you stay young.
“Mind you, things are rarely achieved by one person alone. The support unit is vital, so at least half of the credit goes to Peter.”
Patricia’s theatrical achievements are numerous. After graduating from the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), she made her West End debut in 1972 before starring in the 1973 production of Pippin, also in the West End, directed by theatre legend Bob Fosse. She went on to receive two Olivier Award nominations for Best Actress in a Musical (The Mitford Girls, Noel and Gertie) and co-star with Dame Judi Dench in the 1995 London revival of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. Then, in 2000, she landed the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in a National Theatre revival of Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s comic 19th century play, Money.
“I’ve had some very joyful theatre experiences,” she beams. “But it’s hard work – you’ve got to be an athlete, really! If the play is worth doing though, that’s what carries you.”
Screen work has brought similar success. In 1987 Patricia was nominated for a BAFTA for her role in the TV adaptation of Anita Brookner’s Hotel du Lac; she played female leads in the 1983 film Betrayal and the 1986 TV adaptation of The Life and Loves of a She-Devil; and, of course, she was QC Phyllida Erskine-Brown in Rumpole Of The Bailey for almost 15 years. More recently she has appeared as the formidable Mrs Pelham in ITV’s Downtown Abbey, and also as Penny, mother of the eponymous Miranda in the hugely successful BBC sitcom.
“With Miranda, I think people see us as just pranking around and having a joke, but it’s not like that. You’ve got to work out exactly what the rhythms of the laughs are going to be and then hone them, so it’s pretty intense. The difficult thing about situation comedy is that you are bowing to two gods: the studio audience and the camera. And you have to keep both happy.
“But it’s terrific fun too, of course. And we are all great friends in real life – Miranda actually calls me ‘mum two’. Her own mother, by the way, is really lovely and not at all like my character in the show!”
Off screen Patricia lives on the river in Barnes and has two sons, Alexander (28) and Edward (25), with her late husband Peter Owen, the music publisher, who sadly died last year.
“We were together for 42 years, so things are…very different,” she explains quietly. “You just have to think differently; to remodel accordingly.
“I am really fortunate to have been able to do the job that I’ve done, that I wanted to do, and in the fact that I was married to someone so incredibly understanding and empathetic with regard to the requirements. As a musician he had the same mental disciplines – an understanding of priorities and so on – and the demands of it all.”
It was, in fact, Peter’s career that brought the couple to Barnes many moons ago. His work in the music industry frequently involved spending time at Olympic Studios, once a renowned recording studio and now a popular restaurant, cafe and boutique cinema on Church Road.
“I’d been to Barnes a couple of times to visit friends and there was something about it so redolent of my childhood. I don’t know why, because I was brought up in Lincolnshire, which of course is miles away! I think perhaps that it was the old houses, the village, the pond; the sense I got from all that. It was a landscape that I could relate to,” explains Patricia fondly.
“Now, of course, I love going to the Olympic! When I come out from seeing a film in the evening and the fairy lights are all lit up in the trees, it’s just like Cherry Tree Lane in Mary Poppins.
“And then there’s walking along the towpath into the village to visit all the local shops. I love that too, although my dream at the moment is to get a bike. The question is whether or not I’m too old for it!”
She isn’t. Age has singularly failed to sap her energy or quell her boundless enthusiasm. She is up with the lark without fail for her daily swim and spends a considerable amount of time supporting charitable causes, such as Child Bereavement UK. She is Patron of the Southbank Sinfonia orchestra and a trustee of LAMDA, and she also sits on the development council of Historic Royal Palaces – all whilst maintaining her career. Bradley Wiggins, one suspects, would receive a good run for his money.
In the meantime, Patricia will shortly be expected at the Palace to collect her richly deserved award. Understandably, excitement levels are high.
“I mean, you couldn’t not be pleased!” she beams. “But it brings with it a sense of responsibility too. I think to myself: ‘Gosh, I’d better keep on being a good person – if that’s what they think I am!’”
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