Let's all 'paws' to bid farewell to Coronation Street's resident guide dog, Mr Quinn who is retiring today after 6 years working as an extra on the cobbles.
Mr Quinn belongs to Annie Giles-Quinn, who is blind and works as an extra on Coronation Street. Annie's guidedog Mr Quinn has been a firm hit with the cast of Coronation Street and is pictured above with Chris Gascoyne (Peter Barlow) and Mikey North (Gary Windass) after filming his final scene today.
Interestingly, Mr Quinn's very first scene was with Chris Gascoyne too, so it's a fitting end to the dog's working life in Weatherfield that he's filmed his final scenes with Chris.
I managed to have a lovely chat to Mr Quinn's owner, Annie Giles-Quinn, today and she told me all about Mr Quinn's last day working at Corrie.
She says all the cast love Mr Quinn and will miss him because: "He's so calm and beautiful. William Roache (who plays Ken Barlow) summed it up when he said 'Mr Quinn looks right into your soul'. (As someone who has owned dogs in the past, I completely understand this unnerving way with dogs!). Mr Quinn is also Annie's pet, but at 11 years old now, he's taking time out to retire.
Annie made me laugh a lot when I spoke to her on the phone, and her love for Mr Quinn shone through. She tells me that there's a new guide dog who'll take Mr Quinn's place on the cobbles. The new guide dog is called Miss Sally and she's another black labrador, just like Mr Quinn. Viewers might not notice any difference between the two dogs if they see Annie walking the cobbles as an extra with her guide dog by her side. Annie says that Miss Sally has already been in for a look around the set and has met some of the cast.
There are loads of pictures of Mr Quinn with Annie on Christine Warren's Coronation Street fun pages, along with an interview with Annie from some years ago. You can read it all here.
And Annie's facebook page has many pictures of Mr Quinn with the Corrie cast too. She's given me permission to post the link to her page, which is here.
Annie is also starring in a play soon alongside Coronation Street actor Ryan Prescott, who plays Dr Ali Neeson. The play is called Notes on Falling Leaves and will run as a workshop production over three nights. Annie will play the role of a woman with Alzheimer's Disease.
Thank you, Annie and to ITV for this wonderful interview today. Good luck to Mr Quinn in his retirement and I'll be sure to look out for Miss Sally when she begins her stint on the show.
Find out how you can sponsor a guide dog puppy.
Glenda Young
Author: Belle of the Back Streets
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Speaking of animals, I wonder what happened to the beautiful gray cat that belonged to Eve.
ReplyDeleteMe too! Boo was his name?
ReplyDeleteChristine, I don't remember his name. I hope a cast member or someone adopted him.
ReplyDeleteHis name is Cerberus , still there
ReplyDeleteEvelyn's dog is named Cerberus.
ReplyDelete