Occasionally, we have someone for the column who is iconic but not prolific. “If they only did this one thing, they’d be worth talking about” is a line that crops up a lot, but also few of the people covered for the column actually only do that one thing. Patricia Quinn has done more than one thing, but she hasn’t really done more than one thing that the average person cares about or, in many cases, has even heard of. Oh, sure, she was in The Meaning of Life, in the segment about “Growth and Learning.” She plays the wife of a teacher who teaches sex ed by demonstrating with his wife, played by Quinn. And if you’re a Doctor Who fan from the Seventh Doctor era, you might remember her two episodes.

She was also in I, Claudius, as Livilla. For those not up on their Julio-Claudian lineages, that’s the sister of the eponymous Claudius. Her father was the stepson of Augustus, and she was related in one way or another to a bunch of emperors. Also, she was accused of murdering her second husband for the love of Sejanus, played in the series by Sir Patrick Stewart. This puts Quinn firmly in the rank of “holy cow, everyone is in this” that you get while watching I, Claudius. I haven’t seen it in a while, but I strongly suspect that she comes across as “I know her from somewhere!” even though it was made just a few years after her iconic role.

Which, okay, we’re going to talk about now. Yes. I was sorely tempted to just use the image of her lips, because my goodness but her lips are probably the most iconic in all of film. Her lips in thick red lipstick on a pure black background. It’s not her singing voice; it’s Richard O’Brien’s. But she is lip-syncing to the song. But if you know, you know, and if you don’t, this paragraph is doubtless leaving you very confused. I suspect most of our regular readers are in the former camp.

For those of you who aren’t, Patricia Quinn was cast in 1973 as Magenta in The Rocky Horror Show. Not the Picture Show; this is the original stage play. She also played the role of the Usherette, which required her to sing the song “Science Fiction/Double Feature” herself. She, along with about half the cast, went on to be in the movie as well. The role of the Usherette does not appear in the movie. Instead, Quinn’s lips, brilliantly red on a full-black background, appear to be singing while Richard O’Brien’s recording of it plays. She also plays Magenta, one of the servants of the extravagantly flamboyant mad scientist Dr. Frank N. Furter, played of course by Tim Curry.

And honestly, Quinn has mostly been making a living as Magenta since then. Oh, not fully; as established, I, Claudius was after Rocky Horror. But she does all sorts of cons and things. Further, she was in Shock Treatment, the quasi-sequel, which I’ve never seen. She’s recorded a few albums, too, which I suspect are purchased at least in part by people simply because they recognize her as Magenta. Who, let’s be clear, does get to sing and sing well. And if you can make a living for forty-plus years as a single role, why not do it? This is in no way intended to shame her. I admire her for it.

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