Patrick Holt's real name was Patrick G. Parsons. Some of his childhood was spent in India with his Uncle. Patrick was sent to Christ's Hospital, a famous charity school in England, UK. He formed a close friendship with a boy in the same boarding house, the future film star Michael Wilding. There were those who thought Holt the better actor. He started his career in repertory theatres, and in 1939, landed a leading part on the London stage, but World War II broke out, and he joined the army. He saw service in Burma, Singapore, and India, often on secret missions behind enemy lines, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. After the war, he joined the J. Arthur Rank charm school and steadily established himself as a leading actor in 1950s "second features." Quinlan has called him "the Dennis Price of the B film." By evolving into a character actor, he sustained his career into old age, working on stage and television as well as in the cinema, and he was still listed in the Spotlight casting directory at the time of his death. His first wife was the actress Sonia Holm. In 1955, he married Sandra Dorne, with whom he had occasionally co-starred. The marriage was happy, and he is said never to have recovered from her death on Christmas Day, 1992.