Anne Kirkbride

Anne Kirkbride as Deirdre and William Roache as Ken - a 1988 photograph used for the 1989 Coronation Street calendar.

We're not feeling too well at Back On The Street, but were startled by some news last night, e-mailed to us from a friend of this blog. Anne Kirkbride - Deirdre Hunt/Langton/Barlow - a regular in the Street for many years has died at the young age of sixty.

We're so sorry to hear this. Deirdre had her ups and downs in The Street, but the character is greatly loved, and Miss Kirkbride invested her with a lovely, down-to-earth warmth and "every dayness" that turned her into a Corrie great.

We loved her fiery engagement to Billy Walker and equally fiery marriage to Ray Langton. We thought her pairing with Ken Barlow was a little out of character and a bit of a desperate attempt by the production team to create interest in two regulars without bringing in new characters for them to romance. But there's no doubt that the Dierdre/Ken union yielded pure gold in 1983 when Mike Baldwin tried to entice Deirdre away from her "boring" (or so some of the Press said) hubby.

And then there was Deirdre's turn as a Weatherfield borough councillor in the late 1980s, the "mole" at the town hall, who turned out to be Wendy Crozier, and her spiky relationship with her "mummy dearest", Blanche, in later years.

As well as the high dramas, we remember Deirdre fondly for just being around and for being warm and likeable. Her tenure as assistant at Alf Roberts's Corner Shop from 1980 to 1987, chatting with the customers, getting involved in local intrigues, dealing with change and the bacon slicer, is an outstanding time for the character in our memories.

Her trademark was her big glasses - which lost some of their roundness in the 1980s and became even bigger and rather squarer in shape. They were like mini-tv screens! As with Ena and her hairnet and Albert and his flat cap, Deirdre was difficult to imagine without her trademark apparel.

But, beyond our fondness for the character, there is, of course, something much sadder here. Anne Kirkbride was a real, live human being, not soap opera fiction. Thanks to her for all the viewing pleasure she has brought us over the last four decades, and our heartfelt sympathy to her husband, family and friends.

1981: Ken And Deirdre And Charles And Diana...

It's strange now to look back at 1981 and think how things turned out for the Royal wedded couple of that year. But, back then, the wedding was a bright spot in a highly turbulent year, and the public was entranced by what seemed a fairytale romance.

Fad-wise, 1981 had some real corkers, as illegal CB radio usage went into overdrive in the run-up to legalisation in November, and, after the arrival of the Rubik's Cube in late 1980, the UK was finally fully stocked with them (there had been a shortage) and the colourful puzzle took over 1981. They were everywhere. You could even get a Charles and Di version.

As an aside, the legalisation of CB radio in November 1981 led to romance in The Street in 1982 as Eddie Yeats (Geoffrey Hughes) joined the craze, adopting the "handle" "Slim Jim", and meeting the love of his life, "Stardust Lil", Marion Willis (Veronica Doran) over the airwaves.

A survey for the Walls Ice Cream Company came up with the findings that the Cube was 1981's favourite children's toy, and hide and seek was the favourite children's game.

Days of innocence...

Well, not really. They just seem it in comparison to now!

Coronation Street, of course, got another dose of wedding fever, as well as the royal one (Corrie characters tended to be royalists in those days) as Ken Barlow (William Roache) and Deirdre Langton (Anne Kirkbride) said "I Do" on 27 July, a couple of days before the royal nuptials.

From the Daily Mirror, 27 July, 1981:

The Street of smiles

Ken Barlow and his bride Deirdre Langton have ensured that their wedding won't be completely upstaged by holding it two days before the royal nuptials.

Deirdre is sure to cause a stir by dispensing with her horn-rimmed specs for the occasion.

"I thought most women would take off their glasses for the biggest day in their lives," said Anne.

"I wear contact lenses normally, but I took them out so I could get a better feeling of what it is like without them. I found it quite difficult to negotiate the aisle.

"I leaned on Alf Roberts's arm going up the aisle and held on firmly to Ken Barlow's coming down."

I sympathise with her - the world's a blur for me without me specs!

The ad on the same page brings back memories. VG shops! And to celebrate the Royal Wedding, they were offering Persil automatic at fifty-five-and-a-half pence, Domestos at thirty-nine-and-a-half pence, and Whiskas cat food (large tin) at thirty-and-a-half pence.

Oh, and you could win a Ford Fiesta in Mr VG's Royal Wedding Competition.

Those were the days...

1974: Why Deirdre Wore Cracked And Tatty Specs

From the Weekly News, January 26 1974:

ANNE HAS TO KEEP PATCHING UP THOSE GLASSES

When Anne Kirkbride came out of the Granada studios to tell her father, who was waiting in his car, that she'd got a part in "Coronation Street", he thought it was marvellous news.

Anne wasn't so sure.

"I was working at Oldham Rep at the time, and I'd done a couple of small parts on television," she said. "When Granada rang and asked me to go for an interview, I was petrified.

"It seemed such a big building. I felt lost.

"So when they did offer me a part in 'The Street' I had mixed feelings.

"It was, of course, a tremendous opportunity, and just at the right moment of my career.

"I'd been at Oldham for about three years and I was on the point of moving somewhere new.

"Oldham was an obvious place to start my acting career. I live with my parents on the moors above the town, in a farmhouse over 200 years old.

"Friends call it 'Wuthering Heights'. It started life as a row of cottages, then became an inn and, finally, a farmhouse.

"My brother, who is sixteen, lives at home and we share the house with a dog that is mostly Spaniel, a couple of cats and some goldfish."

After leaving school, Anne got a job as an assistant stage manager at Oldham.

She also took small parts in plays and gradually the parts got better and better.

Finally, she was taken on to the acting staff.

Anne, who plays Deirdre Hunt in "The Street", is lucky to be one of the characters who is not recognised a lot by the fans when she is outside the studios.

The secret is in her glasses.

The ones she wears off screen are quite different from those Deirdre wears.

"When I first started work I didn't wear any glasses at all playing Deirdre.

"At that time, off the screen, I was wearing big, round ones.

"Then the director said, 'You are going to wear your glasses, aren't you? They would be ideal for the character.'

"I did and I have worn them ever since.

"They've become cracked and are held together by sticky tape now, but they're a good luck token to me, so I keep on patching them up.

"Deirdre wouldn't be quite the same without them."