Editing Pat Phoenix (section)

==Early life==
Phoenix was born at [[Saint Mary's Hospital, Manchester|St Mary's Hospital]] in [[Fallowfield]], [[Lancashire]],{{cn|date=February 2023}} to Annie (''née'' Noonan), originally of [[County Galway]], Ireland, and Thomas "Tom" Manfield. Phoenix also claimed that she had been born in Galway, although she later stated that she was merely agreeing with something her elderly mother had already told the press.{{cn|date=February 2023}}

When Phoenix was eight years old, her father was involved in a car accident; in court, it was revealed that his marriage was [[Bigamy|bigamous]] as he had never divorced his first wife, who was living some miles away and who he had been paying maintenance to for many years. She later described this period in her life as a "nightmare", saying that "I lost my safe, secure, normal world". Her mother later married Richard Pilkington.{{cn|date=February 2023}}

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 electricity charging department of [[Manchester Corporation]], performing in amateur dramatics in her spare time. She joined the Arts Theatre in Manchester and other [[Northern England|Northern]] repertory companies.<ref name=thestage/>