Patricia Bredin, the UK's first Eurovision singer, has died aged 88.
The legendary Hull-born actress and singer was just 22 years old when she made history at the 1957 Eurovision Song Contest by becoming Britain's first-ever performer.
After being discovered at the Savoy in London, this projected her to Eurovision stardom and beyond.
She acted in a number of films, playing the lead role in Left Right and Centre, with Ian Carmichael and Alastair Sim, and starred alongside Carry On star Sid James in the film Desert Mice.
Patricia Bredin 🇬🇧 UK’s first #Eurovision entrant has passed away at the age of 88.
— Will O'Regan🌻 (@willovision) August 15, 2023
At the 2nd ESC in Frankfurt Germany 1957 she performed “All”, the first ever english language song that also held the title of shortest song in the history of the contest until Finland 2015. RIP pic.twitter.com/BFyi7T0MKy
Ms Bredin went on to have a long career on stage and screen before retiring to a farm in Canada.
Bredin described Eurovision final as 'wonderful'
Ms Bredin, who married Canadian millionaire Charles MacCulloch and moved to Nova Scotia, passed away on Sunday, her family confirmed to the BBC.
Speaking in 2016, she told the BBC: "Singing in the final in Frankfurt, Germany, it was wonderful, because they had about a 60-piece orchestra and it was like being on clouds."
Her singing career began as a member of the Hull Operatic Society, performing in shows at the City Hall and other venues.
She landed the Eurovision chance following a short meeting with BBC executives, who asked her, "Would you like to be on TV?".
Very sad to hear Patricia Bredin has died, aged 88. Such a pleasure to spend time at her home in Canada and share a glass of bubbly. Patricia told us many stories about her film & singing career and being the 1st ever UK representative at #Eurovision in 1957. RIP Patricia ❤️ pic.twitter.com/cNiBG7REfQ
— Anne-Marie Tasker (@AnneMarieTasker) August 15, 2023
At the time, only 10 countries entered the contest - compared to today's 26 - and the unknown Ms Bredin ended up in seventh place with her love song called All.
The song was less than two minutes long and despite her performance being broadcast on TV, the public did not have an opportunity to send it into the charts as it was never recorded.
Reflecting on her Eurovision appearance in a BBC interview, she said: "Two songs had been chosen and each one had to be sung by two different performers, but they had a problem because nobody wanted to sing that terrible little song called All."
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