Patti Hammond - Biography

By Gary P. Rose

Patricia Whittle was born on 29th June 1950 in Hong Kong. Her father is English and was a sergeant in the British Army and her mother is Chinese. The family came to England in 1953 and Patti started performing shortly after their arrival. She was sent to acrobatic school and then started ballet classes when she was five years old. She loved attending classes and wanted to become a ballerina. She was accepted into the Royal Ballet School at the age of 9 and was dancing with the Festival Ballet Company when she was 17. She spent the next few years working as a ballet dancer, performing in all the classics, but felt that she'd achieved all she was going to achieve in the ballet world so she quit and transferred to modern dancing. During her dancing engagements, she did some modelling, including a photo session with Lord Snowden. She joined the Dougie Squires Dancers and worked on television shows with Rolf Harris and other artists. Like many other dancers, she had long spells out of work and was looking for a fresh new challenge when she saw an ad. in The Stage that Flick Colby was looking for new dancers. Patti applied for the job, went along to the audition, met Flick and was finally told she'd got the job. Although Ruby Flippers career was short-lived, Patti was invited to join the new six-piece dance troupe Legs & Co. She stayed with the group throughout it's run on "Top of the Pops" and also performed with them when they did cabaret. She is married to a sound technician and has a grown-up son.

© G.P.Rose 2011