Patricia Quinn

Growing up in Belfast, Ireland didn't hold much appeal for the artistic Quinn. After studying briefly at the British Drama League and a local arts theatre, seventeen-year-old Quinn packed her bags for London. By 1969 she was juggling her studies at the London Drama Centre with her job as a casino bunny in the city's newly opened Playboy Club. She began appearing in small stage productions in both London and Glasgow, and was transitioning to TV when a chance audition led to her being cast as Magenta in "The Rocky Horror Show." The play, an homage to '50s science-fiction B-movies, became an immediate success. Quinn, however, who sang the fan favorite "Science Fiction, Double Feature" in the play (but not the movie - O'Brien's vocals were dubbed in), was determined to avoid being pigeonholed. And even though she turned in a memorable performance as a determined suffragette in the TV mini-series "Shoulder to Shoulder," Magenta was waiting for her. Quinn returned to the flamboyant housemaid in the big-screen adaptation of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," which was a total flop upon release. The headstrong actress pulled a 180 degree turn with a follow-up role as the ambitious Livilla, Claudius' resentful sister, in the critically-acclaimed "I, Claudius." A few years later she reunited with much of the original "Rocky Horror" cast in "Shock Treatment," which satirized the increasingly hysterical culture of audience participation that surrounded the now-cult film. She landed a small but memorable role as a sex-ed demonstrator in Monty Python's sprawling "The Meaning of Life," and worked steadily through the 1990s and 2000s. Balancing a schedule that found her attending film conventions and "Rocky Horror" gatherings around the world with smaller roles in horror films, one of Quinn's most notable later roles came as a sadistic witch in Rob Zombie's "The Lords of Salem."