Coronation Street star Anne Kirkbride, who played the character Deirdre Barlow in the long-running television soap, died on January 19th 2015 aged 60 after a short illness. ITV said the actress, who was in the show for 42 years, passed away peacefully in a Manchester hospital. Her husband David Beckett and the programme’s cast and crew were said to be “heartbroken and deeply saddened”. Co-star William Roache, who played her husband Ken Barlow for many years, 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.”
Anne died of breast cancer, however many of her close friends from the cast and crew of Coronation said they ‘didn’t even know she was ill.’ She had left the soap earlier in the year and what seemed an odd time due to the storyline of her daughter Tracy getting married to murderer Rob. Many viewers were left puzzled as to why the actress had left at such a crucial time in the soap. At the 20th National Television awards, held two days after Kirkbride’s death, on-screen partner and close friend from the soap, William Roache, gave a tribute to Kirkbride during the ceremony, leaving many members of the audience in tears. The actor Adam Woodyatt dedicated the award Eastenders won to Kirkbride, referring to her as “the Weatherfield one”,referencing a storyline which saw Deirdre wrongly jailed for fraud. Kirkbride was noticed by casting directors for Coronation Street when she acted in a Jack Rostenhal play, ‘Another Sunday and Sweet FA’ in 1972 for Granada Television. She played the part of Deirdre Hunt in Coronation Street from November 1972. The character’s role grew and after further appearances in 1973, Kirkbride signed a contract with the soap in 1974. From then on, the character of Deirdre Barlow become famous for her very large spectacles and her husky voice (a result of her own chain smoking).
Many took to the social media site Twitter to share their condolences for the late actress. Kate Ford, who plays Deirdre’s daughter Tracy Barlow, tweeted: “Heartbroken at the loss of my friend and beautiful on screen mummy. The most crazy, funny 100 per cent human. My life was enriched by her.” Life long friend Beverley Callard tweeted “My beautiful darling friend, Anne Kirkbride, passed away in a room filled with love. God Bless, my Darling Girl! Peace and rest!”
Anne made her debut in the television soap opera in 1972, with just three lines as Deirdre Hunt, who was discovered drinking in a pub with Alan Howard (Alan Browning) by his then wife, Elsie Tanner (Patricia Phoenix). A year later, Kirkbride returned when Deirdre took her typing skills to the builder’s yard belonging to Len Fairclough (Peter Adamson), where she fell for his business partner, Ray Langton (Neville Buswell). The two married in 1975 and had a daughter, Tracy, but the marriage fell apart and the rest of Kirkbride’s Coronation Street career was dominated by Deirdre’s rollercoaster marriage to Ken Barlow (William Roache). In 1983, two years after their wedding, Ken found out that Deirdre was having an affair with Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs) and told her to leave. The explosive storyline proved to be the serial’s biggest to that date, with unprecedented press coverage. It caught the imagination of the public to the extent that the electronic scoreboard at a midweek Manchester United game informed 56,000 fans of the drama’s resolution: “Deirdre and Ken united again!” When Ken went astray himself, having an affair with Wendy Crozier (Roberta Kerr), Deirdre threw him out. The couple divorced and, in 1994, Deirdre married a Moroccan waiter, Samir Rachid (Al Nedjari), but their happiness was shortlived. He died in hospital after being attacked by thugs. Anne was then firmly at the centre of another storyline that captured the nation’s imagination. When Deirdre was duped by Jon Lindsay (Owen Aaronovitch), who falsely claimed to be an airline pilot, moved into an expensive house with her and already had a wife and children, she found herself framed for credit card and mortgage fraud, and was sent to prison in 1998. She was released after several weeks when another of the conman’s victims came forward. In real life, the storyline had been mentioned by the prime minister and galvanised the public to launch a Free the Weatherfield One campaign. Eventually, Deirdre and Ken were re- united and remarried in 2005.
Anne will be sadly missed by all at Coronation Street, but also by the viewers at home who felt like they knew her personally. She was part of our everyday lives and we will never forget the impact she made on our television screens. Britain has lost a true icon.
By Chloe Tomkins.
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