Background
Laffan is the daughter of Arthur Charles Laffan, a successful rubber planter in Malaya, and Elvira Alice (Vitali).
Laffan is the daughter of Arthur Charles Laffan, a successful rubber planter in Malaya, and Elvira Alice (Vitali).
She was educated at Folkestone and at the Institut Français in London. At the Webber-Douglas Dramatic School, she studied for the stage and also studied dancing at the De Vos Ballet School.
She is best-known for her film roles as Empress Poppaea in Quo Vadis (1951) and the alien Nyah in Devil Girl from Mars (1954). Upon seeing the film Broadway Melody (1929) Patricia decided to acting Laffan"s first film appearance was in One Good Turn (1936).
She joined the Oxford Playhouse Repertory Company, and her first stage appearance was as Jenny Diver in The Beggar’s Opera January
1937 at the Oxford Playhouse. Her first London appearance was as the Young Girl in Surprise Item 25 February
1938 at the Ambassadors. She toured military bases throughout England during World World War II, appearing in Hay Fever and Twelfth Night.
Her first credited film part was a minor role as Betty in Caravan (1946).
The following year she was featured in the mystery film Death in High Heels (1947) with Don Stannard. In 1950 she appeared in the crime drama Hangman"s Wharf as Rosa Warren. In the 1951 film Quo Vadis, she played Poppaea, the second wife of the Roman Emperor Nero.
In Escape Route (1952), a crime thriller, she played Irma Brooks.
She starred as the ruthless, Polyvinyl chloride-clad alien Nyah in the Devil Girl from Mars (1954). Next year she had a supporting part as Mission Alice MacDonald in the mystery thriller 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956).
By the 1960s she mainly appeared on radio and television, including performances in Anna Karenina, The Aspern Papers, and Rembrandt, and appearances on panel game programmes such as Petticoat Lincolnshire and Call My Bluff. In the late 1960s and 1970s she produced and choreographed fashion shows around the world.
In 2008 Laffan was interviewed for the British documentary British B Movies: Truly, Madly, Cheaply.
1937 Sweet Adversity (Nurse Gertrude), Q 1938 One Way Street (Nurse), Q 1939 Number Six (Stephanie), Aldwych 1941 The Women, Q 1943 Androcles and the Lion (Lavinia), Arts.