Betty Williams (Coronation Street)

Betty Williams
Coronation Street character
Portrayed by	Betty Driver
Duration	1969–2011
First appearance	Episode 881 2 June 1969
Last appearance	Episode 7610 27 May 2011
Introduced by	H. V. Kershaw
Book appearances	Coronation Street: The Complete Saga Coronation Street: The War Years
Spin-off appearances	The Women of Coronation Street (1998)
Classification	Former; regular
Profile
Occupation	Shop assistant (1969) Barmaid (1969–2012) Cook (1969–2012) Pub landlady (1984–2012)
Betty Turpin in 1969
Father Harold Preston Mother Margaret Preston Sisters Maggie Cooke Husband Cyril Turpin (1949–1974) Billy Williams (1995–1997) Sons Gordon Clegg Grandsons Peter Clegg

Elizabeth "Betty" Williams (née Preston, previously Turpin) was a long-standing fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, portrayed by former music hall star Betty Driver. Driver was cast as Betty in 1969, after first auditioning for the role of Hilda Ogden. The character arrived in Coronation Street to help her sister Maggie Cooke run the corner shop, and has since had a number of storylines which have seen her become twice widowed, and mother to an illegitimate son. Working as a barmaid in the soap's Rovers Return Inn, Betty created a signature dish, known as Betty's hotpot.

In 1995, a real-life range of hotpots and pies based on the dish were launched by Hollands Pies, and in 2007, the world's largest Lancashire hotpot was created, based on Betty's recipe. Driver died in October 2011 and Betty was subsequently written out, with the character dying off-screen of illness in April 2012.

Betty Driver, who had been performing since she was 8 years old, retired from acting in her late forties to run hotels in Cheshire and Derbyshire. It was here that she was spotted by one of her customers, producer of Coronation Street, Harry Kershaw, who persuaded her to audition for the role of Hilda Ogden in 1964; she eventually had to turn the role down as she was tied into an advertising contract with Procter & Gamble and they refused to release her. The part of Hilda eventually went to Jean Alexander. Driver has commented, "Harry Kershaw, producer of Coronation Street, persuaded me to audition for Hilda Ogden – just think I could have been wearing curlers for 30 years." In 1969, she was cast as the new character, Betty Turpin. Commenting on her casting in 1999, Driver said, "[Kershaw] said, 'Betty, how would you like to pull pints for us on television?', and that was it. I suppose I expected I'd be there for perhaps a few months. But it just went on and on and, well, they've never managed to get rid of me."