Coronation Street actress Betty Driver dies, aged 91

Coronation Street actress Betty Driver, who starred in the soap for more than 40 years, has died at the age of 91. Driver joined the ITV soap as barmaid Betty Turpin, later Williams, in 1969. Former co-star Julie Goodyear described her as "a true icon and legend and a very dear friend". ITV said Driver died peacefully in hospital on Saturday. She had already been in showbusiness for more than 40 years, touring the UK as a singer by the age of 12. Driver was appointed an MBE in 1999. Driver had originally auditioned for the role of Hilda Ogden in 1964 but was later persuaded to come out of retirement to audition for the role of Betty. She appeared in more than 2,800 episodes. In January 2011 she told the BBC she would never retire. "I just love working and I will never retire - ever - they'll have to shoot me to get rid of me," she said. "I just love people, you see, and I love the cast." ITV said Driver "died peacefully in hospital" early on Saturday morning. She had been in hospital for six weeks. "She will be sadly missed by everyone who knew her," the spokesman said. 'Foundation' of Rovers William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow in Coronation Street and worked alongside Driver for four decades, said he "loved her dearly". "She was not only a colleague, she was a friend and godmother to my son James," said Roache. "She will be missed in the Street but she will be missed more so as a warm and loving person." Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote I have lost a very dear friend and the Street has lost a very great character” End Quote Actress Barbara Knox Coronation character Rita Sullivan Fellow Coronation Street barmaid Julie Goodyear - character Bet Lynch - said Driver was "the very foundation of the Rovers Return". "It was an honour and a privilege to work with Betty Driver for 25 years. We laughed together, we cried together and never once had a cross word. She was a totally professional actress," she said. "She will be missed and remembered by millions." Barbara Knox, who plays Rita Sullivan in the soap, said: "I have lost a very dear friend and the Street has lost a very great character, a professional to her fingertips - she will be greatly missed." The soap's executive producer Kieran Roberts said Driver was a "wonderful actress and remarkable woman". "It is humbling to think that the 42 years she spent on Coronation Street was just half of her extraordinary career but Coronation Street certainly benefited when she decided to join our show in 1969," he said. "For more than four decades she delighted many millions of Coronation Street fans with her fantastic performance in countless great stories both dramatic and comic. Friend Charles Orr said: "A true legend has left us with enough love and memories to last a lifetime." Driver began performing at the age of eight Elizabeth Mary Driver was born in Leicester but moved to Manchester when she was just two years old. She described an unhappy childhood with little affection given to her or her younger sister Freda. At the age of eight she discovered that she could sing and her mother immediately began forcing her to enter talent contests. When she was just 14 she was given the leading role in the revue, Mr Tower of London, and was spotted by George Formby who cast her in his new film Boots! Boots! Her scenes as a cabaret singer ended up on the cutting room floor but many years later, the film was re-released on DVD with Driver's scenes restored. In 1940 Driver became a big band singer and toured extensively with the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) appearing in shows for the troops. After World War II she continued touring and appeared in her own BBC radio show, A Date With Betty, which was broadcast live. She was cast in a series called Pardon the Expression, a comedy spin-off from Coronation Street, before retiring and then appearing on Coronation Street. Driver had a seven-year marriage to singer Wally Peterson, which ended in her late 30s.

David Croft

Obituary:

David Croft, co-writer and producer of classic comedies including 'Allo 'Allo and Hi-de-Hi has died at the age of 89, his family has announced. He died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Portugal. His family called him a "truly great man" in a statement. Croft's military sitcoms It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Dad's Army, written with Jimmy Perry, were hits in the 1970s. He is also credited with Are You Being Served and its 1990s spin-off Grace and Favour. Actor Melvyn Hayes, one of the stars of It Ain't Half Hot Mum, called Croft a "genius" and said it was "a privilege to work with" him. "There were no swear words in his shows. His programmes were the kind of thing you could sit in front of the TV and watch with your grandmother and grandchildren," he told the BBC. Welsh actress Ruth Madoc, who played Gladys Pugh in Hi-de-Hi, also paid tribute to the writer. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote He just knew what tickled people, what made people smile” End Quote Ian Lavender, Captain Pike in Dad's Army "He taught us so much, that was the great thing about him," she told the BBC News Channel. "He'd let you look in the camera lens and he'd teach you about that shot. "He was a very, very clever man and not only did he do television but he slipped so easily into producing, writing and directing theatre, too." Jon Plowman, former head of comedy at the corporation, said Croft "invented a whole genre of comedy that was all his own". "The world is a less funny place for his going," he added. Croft, who was awarded an OBE in 1978 for services to television, worked alongside Jeremy Lloyd on both the department store sitcom and wartime farce 'Allo 'Allo, which was set in Nazi-occupied France. Comedians and writers have taken to Twitter to post tributes. David Walliams wrote: "Such sad news," while Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell added: "His best monument is that his shows are still repeated." Fruitful partnership All of Croft's hits were produced for the BBC, the last being Oh, Doctor Beeching in 1993 - after which he retired from the corporation. A decade later, Croft was honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the British Comedy Awards. Croft was born as David John Sharland to stage actress Annie Croft and Reginald Sharland, a successful Hollywood radio actor. He enlisted in the army during World War II, which was to provide some of his later comic inspiration for Dad's Army and It Ain't Half Hot Mum. Wartime sitcom Dad's Army was one of Croft's most enduring creations Dad's Army was the first of his series to come to TV screens, in 1968, and marked the start of his fruitful and long-lived comic partnership with Jimmy Perry. The BBC initially had misgivings about the concept - which followed the fortunes of a Home Guard platoon, the last line of defence should the Germans have invaded Britain during World War II. But the affection with which the characters were treated soon endeared the show to audiences and corporate bosses alike. The series went on to gain the creative partnership a trio of awards from the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1969-71. More than 40 years after it was first screened, the sitcom is still being shown. Ian Lavender, who played the hapless Private Pike in the series said Croft was "a great comic writer". "He just knew what tickled people, what made people smile," he told BBC News. "I have never come across anyone in the Home Guard who said Dad's Army was a disgrace. "They say they all had a Mainwaring in their platoon. We were laughing with them, not at them." Among Croft's other achievements, he wrote scripts for numerous well-loved pantomimes and produced television shows in Hollywood and Australia. The statement posted on his official website by his family added: "He was a truly great man, who will be missed by all who had the great fortune of knowing and loving him." It added that he would have been "proud that you had all been watching", a nod to the tagline that appeared at the end of Croft's TV sitcoms.

last-ever episode. of My Family

Cast of My Family 2011

After 11 series in as many years, the Harper family bids farewell in the last-ever episode. Susan and Janey are at a hen party, which is great fun until the bride announces her groom does not want her any more, while family friend Roger is excited about a blind date. The only one at home is Ben, who is babysitting Kenzo - although the grumpy dentist soon finds himself reluctantly going out too. Comedy, starring Robert Lindsay, Zoe Wanamaker, Daniela Denby-Ashe and Keiron Self. Last in the series.

Pam St Clement

Pam St Clement

Actress Pam St Clement, who has played Pat Evans for more than 25 years, is to leave EastEnders later this year, the BBC has announced.

The 69-year-old, who is one of the longest-serving stars of the BBC One soap, said leaving the show would be like "a bereavement".
Pat, known for her dangly earrings and bright make-up, first appeared in 1986.
During her colourful years on the show, the character remarried several times and went to prison.
"I have enjoyed 25-and-a-half wonderful years in EastEnders creating the character of Pat, but feel it's time to hang up her earrings," St Clement said.
"Leaving the EastEnders family will be akin to a bereavement. But I'm looking forward to the other work and life opportunities that I will have the time to pursue."
Pat's most famous storylines in the show have included her rocky relationships with Frank Butcher (Mike Reid), and with her step-daughter Janine (Charlie Brooks).
She also endured a sometimes strained friendship with Peggy Mitchell, who was played by Barbara Windsor.

Pat and Frank  In Eastenders  

It has not been disclosed how the character will exit the soap, although Bryan Kirkwood, executive producer of the programme, said the departure would be "fitting".

Pat and Peggy in Eastenders 

John Yorke, controller of BBC drama production, said: "It's always a sad day when one of our stars leaves EastEnders, but when those stars are as important as Pam St Clement and the character as iconic as Pat Butcher, the blow is doubly hard."
He added that Pat had been "integral" to the programme's success and her earrings had become "part of British culture".
"For most actors that would be legacy enough. The fact that Pam is also a total professional, an endless champion of the programme and a joy to work with is an added bonus."

Peter Falk

Peter Falk 

Peter Falk, the American actor most famous for his role as scruffy TVdetective Columbo, has died aged 83.

The actor died peacefully at home in Beverly Hills on Thursday night, his family said in a statement.
He had been suffering from dementia for a number of years.
Peter Falk won four Emmys for his cigar-chomping role as the deceptively bumbling Columbo, and was nominated for Oscars in 1960 and 1961 for Murder Inc and Pocketful of Miracles.
In the 1987 cult classic The Princess Bride, he played a kindly old man regaling his sick grandson with a fairytale combination of swordplay, giants, a beautiful princess and fearsome rodents of unusual size.
But for most fans, even his best-supporting actor nominations were eclipsed by his incarnation as the sleuth in the shabby mac with no known first name and the killer catch-phrase: "One more thing..."
'Like a flood victim' Columbo first appeared on American TV screens in 1968, and NBC commissioned a series in which the detective appeared every third week from 1971 until it was cancelled in 1977.
The part of its policeman hero had originally been written for Bing Crosby, but Falk made the part his own and continued to make special episodes well into his 70s.
He reportedly turned down an offer to convert it into a weekly series, citing the heavy workload.
The actor bought Columbo's trademark raincoat himself, only for it to be replaced after it became too tattered through its near constant use in the series.
He told one interviewer his shabby detective looked "like a flood victim".
"You feel sorry for him. He appears to be seeing nothing, but he's seeing everything. Underneath his dishevellment, a good mind is at work."
Peter Michael Falk was born in 1927 in New York City, where his parents ran a clothes shop.
He had an eye removed at the age of three due to cancer. He said he learned to live with the ailment after it became "the joke of the neighbourhood".
"If the umpire ruled me out on a bad call, I'd take the fake eye out and hand it to him," Falk told the Associated Press in a 1963 interview.
As an aspiring actor, he was reportedly warned by one agent the false eye would preclude him from working in television. In fact, it became another endearing trait of his most famous character.
Peter Falk had been under 24-hour care for several years.
The actor is survived by his wife of three decades, Shera, and daughters from a previous marriage Catherine and Jackie.
In 2009, Catherine Falk applied to be put in charge of his estate, saying he was suffering from Alzheimer's and that she had been blocked from seeing him for six months.

Donald Hewlett

Donald Hewlett

Donald Hewlett, who was best known for his role in the 1970s BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum, has died aged 90.

The actor, who played Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Reynolds in the show, had been ill for some time, his wife told the BBC.
He died at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in west London on Saturday, Therese McMurray-Hewlett said.
Hewlett was also known for his role as master of the house, Lord Meldrum, in 1990s BBC sitcom You Rang M'Lord?
The actor began his on-screen career with a small part in the 1954 comedy film Orders are Orders starring Peter Sellers, Donald Pleasence and Sid James.
He went on to have roles in numerous TV shows including The Saint, The Avengers, Doctor Who and Coronation Street.
But it was his turn as the commanding officer in It Ain't Half Hot Mum which made his name.
The series, set in British India and Burma towards the end of World War II ran on BBC One from 1974-1981.
Hewlett last appeared on TV in ITV sitcom The Upper Hand in 1995.
He is survived by his wife, Therese, and five children including daughter

 

Miriam Karlin

Miriam Karlin

Actress Miriam Karlin, known to many for her role as shop steward Paddy in TV sitcom The Rag Trade, has died in London aged 85. London-born Karlin was a committed political activist

Actress Miriam Karlin, known to many for her role as 

The actress, who became an OBE in 1975, had cancer and died in hospital.

Born Miriam Samuels in 1925, Karlin was one of Malcolm McDowell's victims in A Clockwork Orange and also had roles in The Entertainer and Room at the Top.

Sir Antony Sher, one of her former co-stars, paid tribute to her as "a great actress [and] a great lady".

Working with Karlin on the play Torch Song Trilogy had been "one of the most enjoyable experiences of my career," he said.

"She gave a tremendous performance as the Jewish mother, full of power and anger, but there was always a twinkle in her eye."

Screen demise

Raised as an orthodox Jew in London, Karlin was a staunch political activist and an active member of actors' union Equity.

  Miriam Karlin as Paddy in  The Rag Trade 

She had been a patron of Dignity in Dying, a body that campaigns for a change to the laws on assisted dying.

The Hampstead-born actress - who lost some family members in Auschwitz - trained at Rada and performed for troops with the Entertainments National Service Association (Ensa).

Karlin played shop steward Paddy in both incarnations of The Rag Trade

Her stage work included engagements with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She also became the first woman to play the traditionally male lead in Harold Pinter's The Caretaker.

The actress frequently played formidable Jewish matriarchs, among them Golde in the original West End production of Fiddler on the Roof.

Karlin appeared as Paddy - known for calling "Everybody out!" at regular intervals - in the original 1960s version of The Rag Trade.

She would later reprise her role when the show was revived by ITV in the 1970s.

It was her startling demise in A Clockwork Orange, though, for which some film fans will remember her best.

As the so-called "Cat Lady", she was beaten to death with a phallic-looking sculpture in Stanley Kubrick's controversial take on Anthony Burgess's novel.

West End theatre producer David Pugh was a friend of Karlin's and remembered her as "a wonderful woman."

Equity spokesman Martin Brown has also paid tribute, remembering her in The Stage as "an absolutely indefatigable campaigner and a marvellous friend".

In a statement, Lord and Baroness Kinnock said the actress had been "superbly talented in roles of every kind".

"Mim was easy to love, an infectious friend, a true comrade and a sparkling spirit."