Names on the buses

 920 Pat Kirkwood

Connections with Brighton and Hove : Pat Kirkwood, a singer, was as famous for her impossibly long legs as she was for her musical skills. Born in 1921, she made her BBC singing debut as a schoolgirl and went on to have a long career. She was chosen by Cole Porter in 1943 for a musical called Let’s Face It. Later both Leonard Bernstein and Noel Coward wrote musicals for her. Pat Kirkwood became the first woman in Britain to have her own hour-long weekly TV show and once became TV personality of the year. She appeared in Brighton many times on the stage and moved to the resort in the 1960s with her third husband, composer and singer Hubert Gregg. They lived in the Lanes. Critic Sir Harold Hobson called her the greatest principal boy of the last century after seeing her in many pantomimes. Her last appearance was at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Her later years were marred by dementia. Pat Kirkwood was often reputed to have had an affair with Prince Philip but it has been strongly denied.

723 Scania Omnicity - carried name since delivery in June 2009 on Metro 5. Metro 5 branding removed October 2013. Repainted into Route 2 livery March 2014. Route 2 branding removed June 2017. Bus sold in November 2017. Name reappeared on Scania Omnidekka in March 2023. Name removed in June 2024.