Anne Kirkbride
| Anne Kirkbride | |
|---|---|
Kirkbride as Deirdre Barlow in Coronation Street
|
|
| Born |
21 June 1954 Oldham, Lancashire, England |
| Died | 19 January 2015 (aged 60) Manchester, England |
| Cause of death | Breast cancer |
| Years active | 1971–2014 |
| Spouse(s) | David Beckett (m. 1992–2015; her death) |
| Children | None |
| Relatives |
Jack and Enid Kirkbride (parents) John Kirkbride (brother) |
Anne Kirkbride (21 June 1954 – 19 January 2015) was an English actress, known for her long-running role as Deirdre Barlow in the ITV soap Coronation Street, which she played for 42 years from 1972 to 2014. For this role, she posthumously received the Outstanding Achievement Award at the 2015 British Soap Awards.
She was born in Oldham, Lancashire, the daughter of Jack Kirkbride, a cartoonist for the Oldham Evening Chronicle. She attended Counthill Grammar School, Oldham, and then joined Oldham Repertory Theatre as an assistant stage manager, before progressing to acting roles.
Kirkbride was noticed by casting directors for the British soap opera Coronation Street when she acted in a Jack Rosenthal play, Another Sunday and Sweet F.A. (1972), for Granada Television. She played the bit 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 serial in 1974. From then on, the character of Deirdre Barlow become famous for her very large spectacles and her husky voice (a result of Kirkbride's own chain smoking).
On 29 September 2014, it was announced Kirkbride would have a three-month break from the show and prior to her death, she had filmed no official last scenes, making her final scenes the ones aired on 8 October 2014 with her character's absence in the soap being explained as staying with a friend until July 2015, when her character Deirdre was killed off with Bev Unwin (Susie Blake) returning to tell Ken and Tracy that she died on the day of her 60th birthday party and homecoming. At the 2015 British Soap Awards, she posthumously received the Outstanding Achievement award, which was accepted by her husband.
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