Corrie A-Z: H is for Honours

 

Researching for this post, I came to the conclusion that over thirty people associated with Coronation Street have received an honour from Her Majesty the Queen, be it an MBE, OBE or CBE.

The earliest to receive an honour was Doris Hare who received an MBE by George VI back in 1943. Known to play Martha Longhurst in the dry runs of Corrie in 1960 and who turned down the role of Ena Sharples, she then went on to play Albert Tatlock’s fiancée Alice Pickens between 1968 and 1969.

Over the years, regular members of the cast have received their share of honours:

Violet Carson (Ena Sharples) – OBE in 1965
Doris Speed (Annie Walker) – MBE in 1977
Jack Howarth (Albert Tatlock) – MBE in 1983
Julie Goodyear (Bet Lynch) – MBE in 1996
Betty Driver (Betty Turpin) – MBE in 1999
Elizabeth Dawn (Vera Duckworth) – MBE in 2000
Bill Kenwright (Gordon Clegg) – CBE in 2000
William Roache (Ken Barlow) – MBE in 2001
Stephanie Cole (Sylvia Goodwin) – OBE in 2005
Johnny Briggs (Mike Baldwin) – MBE in 2006
Roy Barraclough (Alec Gilroy) – MBE in 2006
Anne Reid (Valerie Barlow) – MBE in 2010
Barbara Knox (Rita Sullivan) – MBE in 2010
Eileen Derbyshire (Emily Bishop) – MBE in 2010

Corrie’s creator Tony Warren received and MBE in 1976 while one of the soap’s most prolific writers Jack Rosenthal received a CBE in 1994.

Famous faces who’ve appeared on the cobbles and who’ve received honours include Ian McKellen, Ben Kingsley, Patrick Stewart, Prunella Scales, June Brown, Patricia Routledge, Beryl Bainbridge, Norman Wisdom and Joanna Lumley.

Grocer, councillor and mayor Alf Roberts received an OBE by the Queen in 1995 and travelled down to London in Don Brennan’s taxi along with wife Audrey with hilarious consequences. The end of the story was that Audrey missed out on visiting the Palace with Alf and it was in fact his mayoress Betty Turpin that accompanied him, much to Audrey’s chagrin!

Are there any other Corrie stars that deserve an honour by the Queen? Thelma Barlow? Jean Alexander?

You can follow us on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog and Facebook: CoronationStreetBlog


All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

Queen's Honour List Honours Corrie Stars

The annual Queen's Birthday Honours List has been announced and two of the people on it are long time veterans of Coronation Street (and what took HM so long, I ask?) while one is a former Coronation Street actor. Eileen Derbyshire (Emily Bishop) and Barbara Knox (Rita Sullivan) have been awarded an MBE as has Anne Reid (Valerie Barlow). Ms. Knox has expressed delight and gratitude as has Ms. Derbyshire who also extended her thanks to her fellow coworkers and crew. In this, the 50th anniversary year of Corrie, it's nice to see the remaining two most senior cast members (after William Roache) awarded. Betty Driver and William Roache are the other two current Coronation Street cast members with an MBE to their name.

Other past cast members who have been similarly honoured include Roy Baraclough (Alec Gilroy), Julie Goodyear (Bet Lynch), Liz Dawn (Vera Duckworth), Johnny Briggs (Mike Baldwin), Jack Howarth (Albert Tatlock), William Roache (Ken Barlow), Tony Warren (writer and creator of the show), all of whom have an MBE. The OBE has been awarded to Violet Carson (Ena Sharples), Bryan Mosley (Alf Roberts - who also had an OBE awarded, incidentally. I wonder if that's a record?) and Doris Speed (Annie Walker).