Patricia Roc

She was employed by the studio of J. Arthur Rank, who called her "the archetypal British beauty" She achieved her greatest level of popularity in British films during the Second World War in escapist melodramas for Gainsborough Studios. She played prominent roles in some patriotic films of the period, such as Let the People Sing (1941) with Alastair Sim and We'll Meet Again (1943) with Vera Lynn. She co-starred with Phyllis Calvert, Jean Kent and Flora Robson as an internment camp inmate in Two Thousand Women (1944).

Love Story (1944) allowed her to play the jealous rival of Margaret Lockwood. She later commented that although they were required to slap each other's faces, she and Lockwood were always the best of friends. They played rivals in two subsequent films, The Wicked Lady (1944) and Jassy (1945). Roc's more overt sexuality in such films as The Wicked Lady was downplayed for the American market; her décolletage led US censors to call for retakes to de-emphasise it) and "the Goddess of Odeons", whilst Noël Coward said she was "a phenomenon" and "an unspoiled film star who can act". She played the central role in Millions Like Us, a powerful World War Two film, made by Launder and Gilliat, which portrayed the changes that wartime wrought on the 'home front', starring alongside Gordon Jackson. Read Less

This hastened the collapse of his first marriage to the actress Kay Young. Her scandalous affairs with married men earned her the name of ‘Bed Roc’ within the film industry.

In Johnny Frenchman, the voluptuous Roc played opposite Ralph Michael, who was married to the distinguished actress Fay Compton, sister of the novelist and playwright Sir Compton Mackenzie. ‘Bed Roc’ as she was known in the film industry, embarked on yet another affair. Miss Compton, who never forgave her, divorced Ralph Michael, citing Roc, while Roc’s husband Murray Laing divorced her, citing Ralph Michael. After filming The Wicked Lady, in which, ironically, she played the ‘good girl’ to Margaret Lockwood’s villainess, Roc departed for ­Hollywood to star in the Western Canyon Passage. Read Less