Anne Kirkbride, star of Coronation Street, dies aged 60 after short illness
She was not on the list.
Anne Kirkbride, who portrayed bespectacled, gravelly-voiced Deirdre Barlow in Coronation Street for more than four decades, has died.
The 60-year-old, whose first appearance in the soap opera was in 1972, died in a Manchester hospital after a short illness.
A statement on the ITV website said her husband, the actor David Beckett, and the programme’s cast and crew were “heartbroken and deeply saddened”.
“There are no words to describe the sense of grief we feel at Anne’s passing,” executive producer Kieran Roberts said. “We know only too acutely how much Anne meant to the millions of people who watched her create the legendary character of Deirdre Barlow.”
ITV director of television, Peter Fincham, said Kirkbride had “created a unique and unforgettable character” and had been “a truly loyal servant to Coronation Street since joining the programme in the early 1970s”.
Coronation Street’s creator Tony Warren said: “Anne was very easy to love. Her talent over the years made a massive contribution to Coronation Street.”
Bill Roache, who played her on-screen husband Ken Barlow, said: “I feel Anne’s loss so personally having worked closely with her for over 40 years.
“She was such a loving and vibrant person. You always knew she was there because her laugh was never far away.
“She was an impeccable performer with superb comedy timing and an immense gift for really heightened drama. We had some rows over the years as Ken and Deirdre and it was wonderful to play those scenes opposite her.
“Coronation Street has lost one of its iconic characters and Anne will be greatly missed.”
Born in 1954 in Oldham, Lancashire, she was the daughter of Jack Kirkbride, a cartoonist who worked for the Oldham Evening Chronicle. Casting directors for Coronation Street spotted her when she appeared in Jack Rosenthal’s television drama Another Sunday and Sweet FA, initially bringing her into the soap in a bit part. She subsequently signed a contract and went on to become one of the longest serving characters in the show’s history.
In 1998, even non-viewers of the show could not help but become aware of one of her character’s travails when the then prime minister, Tony Blair, appealed for her release after she was jailed for mortgage and credit card fraud while her conman lover Jon Lindsay walked free.
Paying tribute to Kirkbride, former Coronation Street scriptwriter John Stevenson said that Blair’s intervention had been a particular source of mirth to the actor.
“It was rather one of those ludicrous episodes where fiction collided with real life. She laughed enormously that the prime minister at the time had gone in, speaking in the House of Commons, asking that this miscarriage of justice would not prevail,” he told the BBC.
“Anne was staggered by it and amused and so were a lot of other people.”
Kirkbride had left the soap opera after she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1993 but returned some months later after treatment and spoke candidly about how she had struggled with depression following the diagnosis.
“I just wanted to die because you just don’t want to go on living feeling like that,” she told the Daily Mirror.
“But you’re frightened that if you die you might still feel like that on the other side. There’s no escape.”
“It was worse than the cancer in a way because that was going to be over. I knew it was bad but I knew at the end I was going to get better.”
Among others remembering Kirkbride was the comedian Paddy McGuinness, who posted a photograph of a pair of spectacles, seemingly paying tribute to Deirdre Barlow’s signature style, tweeting: “Anne Kirkbride RIP. A part of our lives whether you knew her or not. She created such an iconic character.”
Among Coronation Street cast members, the actor Samia Ghadie tweeted: “#RIP to a wonderful unforgettable lady.. Anne Kirkbride. We will miss you so very much x.”
Former Coronation Street star Michelle Keegan posted an emoticon of a broken heart, adding: “So so sad. Devastating news. Love you Annie. The nation is now in mourning...”
Beverley Callard, who plays Liz McDonald, tweeted: “My beautiful darling friend, Anne Kirkbride, passed away in a room filled with love. God Bless, my Darling Girl! Peace and rest!”
Kirkbride is survived by her husband, her brother John, and
his family.
Actress
Peter Adamson, Jean Alexander, Johnny Briggs, Margot Bryant,
and Doris Speed in Coronation Street (1960)
Coronation Street
5.6
TV Series
Deirdre Barlow
Deirdre Rachid
Deirdre Langton ...
1972–2014
3346 episodes
Coronation Street: Tram Crash (2010)
Coronation Street: Tram Crash
8.7
TV Movie
Deirdre Barlow
2010
Wetty Hainthropp Investigates (1999)
Wetty Hainthropp Investigates
8.1
TV Short
Deirdre Rachid (uncredited)
1999
ITV Saturday Night Theatre (1969)
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
6.3
TV Series
Player's Girlfriend
1972
1 episode
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