Eileen Mayers obit

Eileen Mayers, Coronation Street star famed for controversial cut storyline, dies aged 94

Mayers played Sheila Birtles on the long-running ITV soap.

 She was not on the list.

Former Coronation Street star Eileen Mayers, who played Sheila Birtles on the long-running ITV soap, has died at the age of 94.

The actor, who appeared on the show between 1961 and 1974, passed away back in June.

The news of her passing was reported in Equity magazine, with a notice reading: "Eileen (nee Mayers) died on 27th June 2026 aged 94.

"She took her final curtain call after an acting career which began aged 15 at the Oldham Repertory Theatre.

"Sheila Birtles in Coronation Street between 1960-63; she is now 'resting' for ever."

Mayers's Coronation Street character will be remembered to many fans for a highly controversial 1963 suicide storyline, in which she took her own life by overdosing on pills after being rejected by love interest Neil Crossley (Geoffrey Matthews).

After details of the story leaked, backlash from fans led to the scenes being cut from the show, with the screen fading to black after she overdosed and Sheila departing from Weatherfield alive.

The 2011 documentary The Corrie Years finally aired the scenes, with Mayers commenting on the backlash to the story.

"I came out of Granada having finished and was greeted with a wall of journalists and I couldn’t believe it," she said of the cut storyline.

She continued: "It is disappointing when you think 'Oh that’s it, that’s good,' and then it doesn’t get shown but that’s the way it is.

"I had an actress friend who used to say 'Well dear, you’ve been front page news!' and I'd rather not have been, and that they had shown the episode."

The Mirror reporter, Ken Irwin, who leaked the storyline, said in the documentary: "I leaked the story and all hell broke loose. Viewers complained they didn’t want this horror, Granada had a rethink and within 24 hours did a rewrite."

Mayers played Sheila on-and-off over the next decade following her exit, giving birth to a son, Danny, off-screen, before returning to the cobbles to live with Elsie Tanner (Pat Phoenix).

She soon reconnected with old flame, Jerry Booth (Graham Haberfield), but their marriage was halted by the re-appearance of Neil, who proposed to Sheila.

Sheila went on to marry Neil in 1966, and departed from Weatherfield to live with him in Sheffield.

She returned again in 1969, before her final stint on the show in 1974.

 

Actress

Robert Gillespie and Pauline Yates in Keep It in the Family (1980)

Keep It in the Family

7.1

TV Series

Elsie Bates

1983

1 episode

 

Richard Hurndall and John Shrapnel in Screenplay (1979)

Screenplay

7.2

TV Series

Neighbour

1981

1 episode

 

Peter Adamson, Jean Alexander, Johnny Briggs, Margot Bryant, and Doris Speed in Coronation Street (1960)

Coronation Street

5.6

TV Series

Sheila BirtlesSheila Crossley

1961–1974

161 episodes

 

Arthur English, Nicholas Hoye, and Michael Robbins in How's Your Father? (1974)

How's Your Father?

7.3

TV Series

Edna Denton

1974

1 episode

 

Just Jimmy (1964)

Just Jimmy

6.9

TV Series

Wilma Stockwell

1964

1 episode

 

Coronation Street: Second Dry Run

TV Movie

Linda Cheveski (unconfirmed) (uncredited)

1960

 

Kay Callard and John Turner in Knight Errant Limited (1959)

Knight Errant Limited

5.8

TV Series

Mason

1960

1 episode

 

I'm Not Bothered

TV Series

Rose Binns

1956

4 episodes

 

Self

The Corrie Years (2011)

The Corrie Years

6.0

TV Series

Self

2011

1 episode

 

Archive Footage

Jean Alexander, Thelma Barlow, Roy Barraclough, Stephen Beckett, Elizabeth Dawn, Betty Driver, Vicky Entwistle, Julie Goodyear, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Sherrie Hewson, Sue Johnston, Barbara Knox, Sarah Lancashire, Bernard Latham, Maureen Lipman, Jennie McAlpine, Bryan Mosley, Sara Roache, Sue Nicholls, Tina O'Brien, Wendi Peters, Doris Speed, Debra Stephenson, William Tarmey, Bill Waddington, Denise Welch, Sally Dynevor, Helen Worth, Bernard Youens, Benny Young, Sally Lindsay, Jenny Platt, Rebecca Pike, and Katherine Kelly in The Stars of the Street: 50 Years, 50 Classic Characters (2010)

The Stars of the Street: 50 Years, 50 Classic Characters

6.1

Video

Sheila Birtles (archive footage)

2010

 

Women of Coronation Street (1998)

Women of Coronation Street

7.7

Video

Sheila Birtles (archive footage)

1998

 

The Coronation Street Character Collection (1995)

The Coronation Street Character Collection

TV Series

Sheila Birtles (archive footage)

1995

2 episodes

 

Peter Adamson, Jean Alexander, Johnny Briggs, Margot Bryant, and Doris Speed in Coronation Street (1960)

Coronation Street

5.6

TV Series

Sheila Birtles (archive footage)

1970

1 episode