Dr Patti Boulaye OBE – You are my Champion

Patti Boulaye is a West End and Recording Star and Actress with an illustrious international career spanning 50 years with starring roles in Theatre, Films and TV. Patti has featured in the BBC2 series “The Real Marigold Hotel”, “Celebrity Master Chef”, “Good Morning Britain”, “Would I Lie to You” and “Love Your Weekend” in 2026 amongst over 300 other TV appearances.

Dr Patti has been a Visiting Teaching Fellow at the University of Middlesex, Business School, for the past 14 years where she lectured to final year students on life skills. She has now moved on to the University of East Lodon. For 20 years Patti was a long-time Governor of BADA, The British American Drama Academy, affiliated to Oxford and Yale Universities and is Patron of Eastside Educational Trust. Patti was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Arts & Education by the Joint Council of Churches.

After Patti’s starring role in African movie “Bisi, Daughter of the River”, the biggest grossing African Movie ever made, she came to prominence in the UK as a singer, winning the British ITV talent show “New Faces”, when she made history by becoming the only contestant ever to receive the maximum 120 points. This led to starring roles in the feature films “The Music Machine “and “Hussy” with Helen Mirren. Patti has featured in a number of Royal Command Performances at the London Palladium. Patti co-produced her own TV series, “The Patti Boulaye Show” on Channel 4 and she starred in 10 annual “Joy to the World” BBC TV Christmas specials.

Patti received an OBE from HRH King Charles for her charity work in the UK and Sub-Saharan Africa. As founder and President of the Charity “Support for Africa” Patti produced two sell-out concerts at the Royal Albert Hall to raise money for her charity, and built 5 Healthcare Centres, in Africa and helped to finance a school with HRH Prince Harry’s Charity in Lesotho. Patti was appointed by Lord Sterling to the “Entertainment Steering Committee” for HM the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, single handedly, she organised and led 5000 Gospel singers down The Mall singing songs especially written by Patti for the occasion.

Patti made her West End debut in the musical “Hair” and featured in “Two Gentlemen of Verona” and her first starring role in the West End was as “Yum Yum” in the opera “The Black Mikado”. She starred as “Carmen” for four years in the opera “Carmen Jones” at the Old VIC and on the World Tour. Patti has just completed (2025) the sell-out Sir Cameron Mackintosh/Disney 15 months Tour of “Mary Poppins” playing the Bird Woman.

She was awarded the Female Vocalist of the Year by the BBCTV Club Mirror Awards, and she was awarded Best Soul Singer by Boisdale Clubs. She has produced and starred in “Blues in the night”, and in the West End played Judy Garland in “The Night They Buried Judy Garland”, Bloody Mary in “South Pacific” and Nurse Hanneman in “The Destiny of Me” for Simon Callow who also directed her as Carmen in “Carmen Jones” which she played for 4 years in the UK and Japan.

Cabaret has been a constant love of her career with shows, among others, for Prince Hassan 50th birthday in Jordan, Michael Jackson’s 45th birthday in LA, the Ritz Hotel, the Talk of the Town, The Café Royal, The Savoy Hotel, Crazy Coqs, The Hippodrome, Boisdale and The Pheasantry. Her current one-woman shows are legendary, “Billie and Me”, “Aretha & Me” “Me, Myself & I” and “Diana & Me” have all sold out across the UK during the last five years. Last December she debuted her new show “Here I Am” at the Pheasantry in Kings Road, Chelsea.

In London Patti produced her own musical “Sun Dance”, for which she wrote all the music and lyrics. Patti has released 9 albums and 15 singles to date and she has in January 2026 just finished recording her new Gospel Album for release later this year. Patti launched her acclaimed autobiography “The Faith of a Child” in March 2017 which, as a big seller, was re-launched as a Hard-Back in December 2021 by publishers, Kaleidoscope, at the National Film Theatre when the British Film Institute held a Celebration of Patti’s film and TV appearance over the last 50 years. Patti successfully launched her TV Chat Show “Life with Patti Boulaye” which was streamed throughout the World. In these programmes Patti talks to successful people from all walks of life. The programmes are now available on YouTube.