Patrick Fyffe

One of the most original female impersonators of his generation Patrick Fyffe was better known as Dame Hilda Bracket, the acid tongued singing half of the comedy double act Hinge and Bracket. Accompanied on the piano by her friend Dr. Evadne Hinge (George Logan) the elderly Dame Hilda treated audiences to old fashioned musical evenings from her home in Stackton Tressell where she sang selections from light operetta, musical comedies and the works of Noël Coward and Ivor Novello. The two 'Dear Ladies', as they were billed, bitched and gossiped between numbers, sipping sherry and thoroughly enjoying what they termed "bringing culture to the masses." It was one of the most successful drag acts ever and like their predecessors in the world of British variety, Old Mother Riley (Arthur Lucan) and Mrs Shufflewick (Rex Jameson) many people watching Hinge and Bracket had no idea that they were men. Fyffe was born in Stafford and after leaving school worked as a hairdresser and then an actor in repertory theatre. In his early 20s he worked as a female impersonator under the name of Perri St Clair. In 1972 he met and teamed up with George Logan and soon afterwards Hinge and Bracket were born. A hit at the 1974 Edinburgh Festival the duo soon appeared in London's West End and in tours of Australia. The duo had several successful BBC radio series as well as appearances on television in the UK and America. In December 2001 Fyffe pulled out of a theatre show and was later diagnosed with suffering from cancer. Producer Duggie Chapman who often toured with the duo in his car said "As they got older the pair began to resemble Hinge and Bracket offstage in their mannerisms. They would sit in the back of my car gossiping and bitching and upstaging each other. It was hilarious."