Patricia Phoenix was an English film and television actress who became one of the first sex symbols of British television through her role as Elsie Tanner, an original cast member of Coronation Street. Phoenix attended Fallowfield Central School.

As a child, she nursed early theatrical ambitions, appearing regularly on the radio in Children's Hour at the age of 11, after having submitted a monologue. After leaving school, she worked as a filing clerk for the gas department of Manchester Corporation, performing in amateur dramatics in her spare time. She joined the Arts Theatre in Manchester and other Northern repertory companies.