Jessel was born in the thenBritish Crown Colony ofHong Kong, only child of army captain Clement Edward Jessel and Ursula Theodora (née Buckley). Her father was the younger son of Frank Herbert Jessel and Florence Lucy (née McCarthy), the eldest sister ofLillah McCarthy, making Patricia the grandniece of the famous actress. At the time of the 1939 register, Patricia was staying with Lillah and her husband inFowey.
Jessel was at theItalia Conti Drama School when she played her first professional role, Wendy in the pantomimePeter Pan. She left at 16 to begin her professional career.[2] Her final performance was in an episode ofDr Finlay's Casebook.
Patricia Jessel married Dr Joseph George Feinberg, an American veterinary surgeon, in London in 1948. They had one child, Patricia Ann, born in Marylebone in 1947, who married Patrick John Stoner in London in 1983. Patricia Feinberg Stoner is a noted author.[3]
Patricia Helen Mary Jessel died of a heart attack on 8 June 1968[a] at her home of many years, Flat 2, 17 Old Church Street. Chelsea. Her funeral was held atMortlake Crematorium on the 14th. Joseph died on 12 August 2000, aged 85, and was also cremated at Mortlake. He requested in his will that “my ashes shall be scattered in the gardens of the Crematorium where they can mingle with those of my Wife".
(1944) InA Midsummer's Night Dream in the Stratford Theatre Festival at the Shakespeare Memorial Festival in Stratford, England with John Byron, Cliff Weir, Antony Eustrel, and Toto Capper-Parlby in the cast. Robert Atkins directed.
(21 February 1949 – 12 March 1949) She acted in the Shakespeare Season at the Bedford Theatre in Camden Town, London withDonald Wolfit, Rosalind Iden, and Joseph O'Conor in the cast.
(1953) She acted in Agatha Christie's play,Witness for the Prosecution at the Winter Garden Theatre in London, England with David Horne and Derek Blomfield in the cast.
(30 October 1963) Played Epifania Ognissanti Di Parerga in George Bernard Shaw'sThe Millionairess at theGoodman Theatre in Chicago. John Reich[5] was director.
