Anne Reid,
MBE (born 28 May 1935) is a
BAFTA Award-nominated
English film and television actress from
Newcastle upon Tyne, best known for her roles as
Valerie Tatlock in
Coronation Street and Jean in
dinnerladies.<!-- lower case is the usual form -->
Reid was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours.
Television
Coronation Street
Reid's first major acting role was as the character of
Valerie Tatlock (later Barlow) on
Coronation Street. Her character was very popular with the fans with Valerie's marriage to
Ken Barlow being an early example of a soap
supercouple. Her character Valerie was the mother of the twins Susan and Peter. Reid joined the cast, initially for two months, starting in August 1961 and leaving in October 1961. She returned to the programme to marry Barlow on 1 August 1962 in a wedding watched by 15.8 million viewers. Her character was very popular and in 1965 when she and Barlow had twins, Granada TV received numerous flowers, cigars, candies, and cards addressed to "Mrs Barlow" as congratulations. An estimated 17.8 million watched the christening episode of the twins.
In 1968 Reid played one of the most difficult parts in
Coronation Street, when Valerie Barlow was held hostage by a rapist. Although Mrs Barlow wasn't harmed, viewers sent in hate mail to the actor who played the rapist. In November 1970 Reid announced she was leaving
Coronation Street as she was now...
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