Elsie Tanner
| Elsie Tanner | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Coronation Street character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Pat Phoenix | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1960–1973, 1976–1984 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 9 December 1960 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 4 January 1984 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Tony Warren | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Book appearances |
Coronation Street: The Complete Saga Coronation Street: The War Years |
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| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Shop Assistant, Retail Clerk, Factory Supervisor, Machinist, Café Manageress, Barmaid, Bar Owner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Father | Arthur Grimshaw |
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| Mother | Alice Grimshaw |
| Sisters | Fay Butler |
| Husband |
Arnold Tanner (1939–1962) Steve Tanner (1967–1968) Alan Howard (1970–1978) Bill Gregory (1984–2004) |
| Sons | Dennis Tanner |
| Daughters | Linda Cheveski |
| Stepsons | Mark Howard (1970–1978) |
| Grandsons |
Paul Cheveski Martin Cheveski |
| Nephews |
Bernard Butler Gary Bailey |
| Nieces | Sandra Butler |
| First cousins | Arnley Grimshaw |
| Other relatives |
Colin Grimshaw Eileen Grimshaw Julie Carp Jason Grimshaw Todd Grimshaw |
Elsie Gregory (also Grimshaw, Tanner and Howard) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, Coronation Street, played by Pat Phoenix from the series inception in 1960 to 1973 and from 1976 until 1984. Elsie Tanner was one of the original core characters on Coronation Street and appeared in the very first episode. She is considered something of an icon in soap history and regarded as one of Coronation Street's greatest ever characters.
Her final appearance came in January 1984, when Elsie emigrated to Portugal. Phoenix decided to quit the series in 1983 to pursue other projects.
Three years after leaving, Phoenix died, and a few months later, a special video special titled "The Lives and Loves of Elsie Tanner" had the return of Anne Cunningham as Elsie's daughter Linda, hinting about Elsie's previous passing and including archive footage for flashbacks. However, 24 years later, when Philip Lowrie returned as Elsie's son Dennis Tanner, it was revealed that Elsie had died in a car accident along with Bill Gregory in 2004/2005, meaning that the video is not part of the canon of the show (on which the events have not been mentioned).
In 2011, it was revealed that she and her son Dennis were related to Eileen Grimshaw and Julie Carp as her cousin, Arnley Grimshaw, was their grandfather.
Elsie is dubbed as the "siren of the street throughout the 1960s". She is described as having a passion for men and got hurt by all of them. In her later years she is described as struggling to keep up her glamour and has a series of sleazy one-night stands and dead-end jobs.
At the beginning of the series, Elsie had two children, both now adults, Linda and Dennis, from her marriage to Arnold Tanner.
Linda had trouble with her Polish husband and his short temper, but they eventually reconciled and had two sons, Paul & Martin. Coronation Street's creator, Tony Warren had originally planned the character of Dennis to be rather gritty and a real "bad boy", but actor Philip Lowrie's charm and knack for comedy led to Dennis becoming much more lighthearted. Dennis was shown to be sneaky and up to shenanigans, and embarked on many "get rich quick" schemes to help himself and his mother.
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