Do You Ken Patsy Kensit?

Yes, I was once a Patsy Kensit fan. Granted, she was no great shakes as an actress in Absolute Beginners, when the expectation crashed into the hype and her reputation was mangled. At the time I was working for Record Mirror and the females in the office were especially hostile. This encouraged me to set a framed Patsy picture on my desk and to play the lovely Eighth Wonder single, 'I'm Not Scared' at regular intervals.

In 1988 I found myself in a minibus with herself, headed to Milton Keynes. We were en route to a big concert with Big Audio Dynamite and she spent much of the journey with her new husband Dan Donovan. He was a musician with BAD and the son of legendary photographer Terrence Donovan and they seemed happy.

I was working for NME by then and the paper had recently published a mean feature on Patsy. So I was a little coy, but she was pure friendliness and said that we shouldn't judge an individual by the paper they work for. So I remained a fan.

Last night I watched her retrace the Kensit line on 'Who Do You Think You Are'. Most people were aware of her father's connection to the Krays and other London gangsters, but the story got more surprising as it peeled back the generations to chronic poverty in Bethnal Green, illegitimacy and even a few ecclestiastical connections. Her Irish mother was barely mentioned but the dad's side was properly rum.

Like many previous subjects, Patsy was inclined to get sentimental about these old figures, brought to life in ledgers and ancient images. She cried almost constantly. I would lend her my hanky any time.