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1-50 of 76
- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Caroline Aherne was born on 24 December 1963 in Ealing, London, England, UK. She was an actress and writer, known for The Royle Family (1998), The Mrs. Merton Show (1995) and Mrs Merton & Malcolm (1999). She was married to Peter Hook. She died on 2 July 2016 in Timperley, Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England, UK.- Actor
- Writer
Quentin Crisp was born Denis Pratt on Christmas Day, 1908, in the London suburb of Sutton. He was the youngest of four children; his father a lawyer; his mother a former nursery governess. In his autobiographical work, "The Naked Civil Servant", he describes a difficult childhood in a rigorously homophobic society. In his early twenties he decided to devote his life to "making the existence of homosexuality abundantly clear to the world's aborigines". He cross-dressed and acted intensely effeminate in public, often at great risk to himself. In London he worked as a prostitute, book illustrator and finally - the source of the title of his autobiography - as a paid nude model at government-supported art schools. A dramatization of The Naked Civil Servant (1975), starring John Hurt, was shown on American television to critical praise in 1976. Crisp moved to New York the following year, a move he described as his proudest achievement. He first presented "An Evening with Quentin Crisp" in 1978; it received very favorable reviews (Richard Eder, NY Times) and a special Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience. He defined a style with his flashy scarves, purple eye shadow, and white hair swept up under a black fedora. He died in Manchester, England, aged 90, on the eve of opening another run of "Evening"s. When, in preparation for his move to America, he was asked at the US Embassy if he were a practicing homosexual, he replied, "I didn't practice. I was already perfect".- British character actor Norman Rossington was born in Merseyside, Liverpool, so it shouldn't be considered THAT ironic that he would end up appearing in The Beatles' debut film smash, A Hard Day's Night (1964), as "Norm", the Fab Four's chagrined road manager.
The son of a publican, he never finished high school, leaving at age 14 and living a rather wanderlust adolescent life as messenger, office boy, carpenter apprentice, etc. Later, he went to night school and studied industrial design in order to become a draftsman. Interest in acting happened by accident and, eventually, Rossington joined a local theatre group.
He trained seriously at the Bristol Old Vic and began appearing in both straight plays ("A Midsummer Night's Dream") and musicals ("Salad Days") by the mid-50s. Within a few years, he had extended his visibility to films and TV, setting up his rather bumbling persona as "Private Cupcake" on the TV comedy series, The Army Game (1957). Along with roles in a few of the zany "Carry On..." slapstick films. Rossington established himself firmly as a comedy performer with I Only Arsked! (1958), Crooks Anonymous (1962) and Nurse on Wheels (1963), representing a few of his farcical credits. Yet his finest creation was arguably in the "kitchen sink" drama, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), as Albert Finney's sensible, down-to-earth, blue-collar pal.
Though he never attained outright stardom, Rossington became a reliable, familiar face with minor roles in such epic British and U.S. films as Saint Joan (1957), The Longest Day (1962), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes (1965), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) and Young Winston (1972), not to mention the equally epic TV miniseries, I, Claudius (1976) and Masada (1981).
Rossington's greatest impression would lie in musical theatre, especially in his later career. Such spirited roles in "Peter Pan" (as "Starkey"), "My Fair Lady" (as "Alfred Doolittle"), "Annie Get Your Gun" (as "Charlie Davenport"), "Pickwick: The Musical" (as "Tony Weller"), "Guys and Dolls" (as "Nathan Detroit") and, lastly, as Beauty's father in "Beauty and the Beast", made him an endearing favorite in the West End. He died of cancer at the age of 70 in 1999. - Actor
- Writer
Roy Barraclough began his career as a draughtsman, taking time off to work as an entertainer in a holiday camp on the Isle of Wight. Combining his day job with local amateur theatre for several years, he was eventually offered a full-time acting contract by repertory theatre producer Nita Valerie with her company in Huddersfield. Barraclough regularly appeared on stage and at times played piano in the pit, including for comedian Hylda Baker.
Barraclough later joined the repertory company at Stoke (appearing alongside Ben Kingsley) and then Oldham in 1966, appearing alongside Barbara Knox and Anne Kirkbride, who later both became colleagues on Coronation Street (1960). Whilst at Oldham he made his first TV appearances for Granada Television, including Coronation Street in 1964.
In 1969, he was cast as Harry Everitt in Yorkshire Television's first soap opera Castle Haven with Kathy Staff as his on-screen wife. Although the soap only lasted a year, Barraclough became a regular guest actor on YTV shows. It was whilst having lunch in the canteen there that he was asked to stand in for a missing actor on the first series of The Les Dawson Show. It was the start of a working relationship which would last many years both at YTV and the BBC. Barraclough appeared in the Jack Rosenthal sitcom The Lovers (1970) playing a grumpy barman. He played a similar role in the Rising Damp episode ("Pink Carnations", 1978) and also appeared in ITV's sitcom George & Mildred (1976).
Throughout the 1970s, he formed a partnership with comedian Les Dawson. They played two grotesque old ladies '...of a certain age...', Dawson playing Ada Shufflebotham, Barraclough playing Cissie Braithwaite, the more 'refined' of the two. In 1972 he gained a legion of young fans in the memorable children's series Pardon My Genie (1972-73) as ironmonger Mr Cobbledick, Hal Adden was played by Ellis Jones.
Barraclough made occasional appearances in Coronation Street in 1972 and 1975, playing the rather sleazy Alec Gilroy, theatrical agent to night club singer Rita Littlewood. He returned permanently in 1986 and a marriage to Bet Lynch was included in his character's narrative. After several departures and comebacks, Barraclough finally left Coronation Street at the end of 1998.
Barraclough was later to appear in a sitcom, Mother's Ruin (1994), in which he played a bachelor dominated by his belligerent mother (Dora Bryan). He made a guest appearance in Last of the Summer Wine ("Has Anyone Seen A Peruvian Wart? 2005) playing opposite his friend Kathy Staff and appeared in a variety of TV shows including _Casualty_, Peak Practice (1994, 2001) and Funland (2005).
In 2009, he played the vicar in the BBC1 drama All the Small Things and from 2012 to 2013 he played Maurice in Last Tango in Halifax. In 2016 he played Mr Grainger in a reboot of Are You Being Served?. In 2001, he appeared on Lily Savage's Blankety Blank.
On stage, Barraclough appeared in everything from musicals (The Boy Friend and Gypsy) to high drama (Death of a Salesman and A Different Way Home) and Christmas shows and pantomimes. He created the role of Santa in the lavish stage musical Santa Claus, which he reprised for several Christmases.- Kathy Staff was born on 12 July 1928 in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Mary Reilly (1996), Last of the Summer Wine (1973) and Open All Hours (1976). She was married to John Staff. She died on 13 December 2008 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England, UK.
- Sylvia Butterfield MBE, known professionally as Elizabeth Dawn or Liz Dawn, was an English actress, best known for her role as Vera Duckworth in the long-running British soap opera Coronation Street. First starting on the serial in 1974, she had more of a recurring role as a factory worker until her husband Jack (played by William Tarmey) first appeared in 1979, and later a more concrete role in 1983. For her role as Vera, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2008 British Soap Awards. She was made an MBE in the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours.
Born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, Dawn started her show business career as a nightclub singer. By the late 1960s she had ventured into acting, often taking small parts in television programmes as well as advertisements. During the 1970s she appeared in a variety of programmes including All Creatures Great and Small and Colin Welland's play Leeds United, as well as an early appearance in Crown Court as a non-speaking background artist.
In January 1990, Dawn was featured on This is Your Life. She published her autobiography, Vera Duckworth - My Story, in 1993.
In 2000, Dawn was chosen as the Lady Mayoress of Leeds and was awarded an MBE in October of that year for her services to charity, having helped raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for hospitals in the Manchester and Leeds areas.
On 12 October 2010, Dawn appeared in a wheelchair at the naming ceremony of the new Cunard cruise ship, MS Queen Elizabeth in Southampton.
She appeared at the 2011 British Soap Awards giving the Lifetime Achievement Award to her former co-star Bill Tarmey.
On 12 June 2014, Dawn was the subject of one of five celebrity specials of The Jeremy Kyle Show. She appeared on the show, talking about her career and health.
On 11 November 2015, it was announced that Dawn was to briefly come out of retirement and make a guest appearance in Emmerdale over Christmas 2015, in the role of Mrs Winterbottom. - Actress
- Writer
- Stunts
Bold, brassy and larger than life, Pat Phoenix was television's favourite scarlet woman. For nearly 25 years, she dominated the soap opera Coronation Street (1960) in the role of Elsie Tanner and sent shivers down the spines of Britain's menfolk twice a week. With her cleavage displayed in low-cut tops, she was known as "the working man's Raquel Welch" and was once dubbed, by the then UK Prime Minister James Callaghan, "the sexiest woman on TV".
Phoenix's life very much mirrored that of the character she played. Tough and determined, she came from a working-class family in Manchester, but fought her way to the top. Married three times, she was blunt, outspoken and a notorious chain-smoker; but like Elsie Tanner, she had a heart of gold and inspired affection in everybody. She desperately wanted to be an actress but her first job was as a filing clerk. She broke into repertory theatre and worked throughout the north of England with a variety of companies. "I played everything" she said. "When I was 22, I played 90-year-old women. I was brought up in the theatre and I made my own way. I was in the theatre for many years before I was in television. The stage is most exhilarating. You know when an audience loves you".
After working with the Joan Littlewood Theatre Workshop in London in the early 1950s, she found herself out of work and nearly gave up acting. Success came in 1960 when, at the age of 36, she was cast as Elsie Tanner in Granada TV's new soap Coronation Street (1960). With the rise of interest in northern-based 1960s films such as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), the earthy characters and gritty settings of Coronation Street (1960) were a hit.
Created and written by Tony Warren, the role of the headstrong Elsie was a classic and transported Phoenix to international fame. Viewers followed "the Street" in such huge numbers that when she married US Army Sergeant Steve Tanner in 1967, over 20 million viewers tuned in to the programme. "I was one of the first anti-heroines" said Phoenix, "not particularly good looking and no better than I should be. The character of Elsie had overtones of me in it, and overtones of my mother".
Phoenix played Elsie for over 23 years, but shocked producers and audiences when she decided in 1983 to quit Coronation Street (1960) for good. She still remained on television in series such as Constant Hot Water (1986) and as an agony aunt for an early morning magazine programme. Her final television role was as a bedridden actress in Unnatural Causes (1986). She numbered Laurence Olivier among her many admirers and fans. Characteristically, she summed up her own talent saying by "I don't know what the word "star" means. I only know I am a working actress".- Olive Pendleton was born in 1925 in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Emmerdale Farm (1972), Body & Soul (1993) and Coasting (1990). She died on 23 January 2012 in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, UK.
- Anne Kirkbride was born on 21 June 1954 in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Coronation Street (1960), ITV Saturday Night Theatre (1969) and Coronation Street: Tram Crash (2010). She was married to David Beckett. She died on 19 January 2015 in Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, UK.
- Fred Dibnah was born on 29 April 1938 in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, UK. He was married to Sheila Grundy, Sue Lorenz and Alison Foster. He died on 6 November 2004 in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, UK.
- Deceased British professional wrestler and actor. He debuted in 1967 as Luke McMasters and was also billed as Haystacks Calhoun, taken from the American wrestler William 'Haystacks' Calhoun. He changed it to Giant Haystacks and wrestled all around the world under that name. He was renamed Loch Ness Monster in Stampede Wrestling. In February 1996, WCW brought him in as Loch Ness as a member of "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan's stable The Dungeon of Doom, debuting in a match against "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. This was supposed to have led to a big match with Hulk Hogan. However, he started having health problems. He left the Dungeon and had his only PPV match ever at WCW Uncensored (1996), losing to The Giant (Paul Wight). He retired and passed away from cancer in 1998.
His finishing move was an Elbow Drop. That is, an over 600 lbs. elbow drop.
He was a 1x Joint Promotions British Heavyweight Champion, a 1x Stampede International Tag Team Champion with The Dynamite Kid (Tommy Billington) and a 1x All-Star Wrestling European Heavyweight Champion.
He was friends with Sir Paul McCartney, who invited Haystacks to appear in his movie Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984). McCartney was a fan and he regularly attended Haystacks' matches.
He was a major ratings draw on ITV. His top feud in England was with Big Daddy.
In Stampede, he was a member of the stable Foley's Army, led by J.R. Foley.
Over his month in WCW, he squashed Scotty Riggs (Scotty Antol), Alex Wright and Marcus Alexander Bagwell (Marcus Bagwell). WCW World Television Champion Lex Luger (Larry Pfohl) defeated him by countout. - Maggie Jones was born on 21 June 1934 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Coronation Street (1960), The Forsyte Saga (1967) and Sense and Sensibility (1971). She was married to John Oliver Stansfield. She died on 2 December 2009 in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK.
- Ann Rye was born on 15 February 1935 in Staple, Kent, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Don't Look Now (1973), Coronation Street (1960) and The Avengers (1961). She was married to Andrew Laurence and Brian Poyser. She died on 27 August 2019 in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, UK.
- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Bernard Manning was born on 13 August 1930 in Ancoats, Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for The Impressionable Jon Culshaw (2004), Coronation Street (1960) and The Great British Striptease (1980). He was married to Veronica Finneran. He died on 18 June 2007 in Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, UK.- Randal Herley was born in 1923 in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Taggart (1983), Crown Court (1972) and Emmerdale Farm (1972). He was married to Marjorie H. Grainger. He died on 14 April 2013 in Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, UK.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Doris Speed was one of Britain's best-loved soap actresses, fondly remembered for her portrayal of Annie Walker, the snooty landlady of the Rovers Return pub in ITV's Coronation Street (1960). She played the role for 23 years and was dubbed by the press as 'The Queen Mother of Soap.'
Born in Manchester, her father George was a singer and her mother Ada a repertory actress. She toured with both her parents as a child. She later left the stage to work as a clerk in the giant Guinness brewery in Manchester and remained with the company for several years.
'Coronation Street' creator Tony Warren became a close friend of Speed and wrote the part of Annie Walker specifically for her. She joined the series when it was first aired in 1960 and appeared in 1,746 episodes. Hugely popular with viewers she received more fan mail than any other member of the cast.
Offstage she was a shy and retiring person but a keen theatre-goer. She once said "I would love to have done more theatre work because that is how I started. There are so many roles I would love to have played. But I owe my life to 'Coronation Street' and I don't regret a minute of it."
She was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for her services to television in 1977 and received The Pye Television Award two years later. She was also an honorary member of the Licensed Victuallers' Association. Doris made her final television appearance in 1993, when she gave an interview on Classic Coronation Street (1993), alongside her former screen son, Kenneth Farrington.- Peter Wheeler was born in 1934 in Hartlepool, County Durham, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Crown Court (1972), Emmerdale Farm (1972) and The XYY Man (1976). He was married to Pat. He died on 18 May 2010 in Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, UK.
- Producer
- Writer
- Animation Department
Mark Hall was born on 17 May 1936 in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, UK. He was a producer and writer, known for Danger Mouse (1981), The Wind in the Willows (1984) and The Wind in the Willows (1983). He was married to Margaret Routledge. He died on 17 November 2011 in Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, UK.- Actor
- Writer
Wilfred Harrison was born on 22 August 1918 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Calendar Girls (2003), Prime Suspect (1991) and Emmerdale Farm (1972). He died on 22 November 2009 in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, UK.- David Smith was born on 9 January 1948 in Withington, Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK. He was married to Mary Flaherty and Maureen Hindley. He died on 5 May 2012 in Hyde, Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, UK.
- Shane Cordell was born in 1936 in Bury, Lancashire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Good Companions (1957), Fiend Without a Face (1958) and Fire Maidens of Outer Space (1956). She was married to Ian Parr and John Luke. She died in 2016 in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, UK.
- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Diane Taylor was a writer and producer, known for Scott & Bailey (2011), Prisoners Wives (2012) and Crime Connections (2012). She died in September 2016 in Greater Manchester, England, UK.- Actor
- Music Department
Stromboli was born on 7 July 1926 in Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, UK. He was an actor, known for The Elephant Man (1980), The Bride (1985) and Princess Caraboo (1994). He was married to Sylvia Wilde. He died on 9 April 2019 in Farnworth, Greater Manchester, England, UK.- John Pickles was born in Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for In the Name of the Father (1993), The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1991) and Crown Court (1972). He was married to Jean ?. He died on 20 March 1997 in Bromley Cross, South Turton, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, UK.
- Natasha Reddican was a TV producer who died by suicide on 27 February 2020 at the age of 31. Natasha "such impressive potential", died nine months after the ITV show The Jeremy Kyle was axed following the suicide of Steve Dymond, who had appeared on the show as a guest days earlier; the episode was never broadcast.
Reddican's boyfriend and colleague on the show , Mackenzie Hanafan said the circumstances of the program being taken off air were "something that weighed on her mind a lot".
Senior Coroner for Manchester West, Timothy Brennand, said at the inquest into Natasha's death that the motivations for her actions appeared "multi-faceted" but he noted that it had been described to him that her job on The Jeremy Kyle Show was seen as "being a family at work such was the close-knit community of those involved". Mr Brennand continued it was a "tragic and harrowing case" involving a young woman with "such impressive potential. She was a local girl made good with a high work ethic who worked her way up from a modest post to become a producer on a well-known television production."