Coronation Street Cast

The Coronation Street cast is one of England's most beloved groups of actors. Spanning decades, the cast has grown with the times and enjoyed enormous popularity. This is owed in great part to the success of Coronation Street, which has been on the air since 1960!

Who's living on the street these days?

Almost all soap operas employ their fair share of big names – that is, the matriarchs and old guards of the program who are highly regarded by the rest of the team. Big names aren't just old-timers, though. They're also the new faces that grace soap opera magazine covers, the ones who create a buzz and in many cases even attract new fans to the program. In a soap like Coronation Street, even newcomers to the world of acting eventually earn "big name" status, however fleeting it might be.

Getting to know the entire Coronation Street cast might be something of a challenge, considering the show has been on the air for decades. From the first cast, whose faces were seen weekly in black and white, to the current group, whose glossy photographs are plastered all over soap opera magazines and websites, the program has played host to hundreds of actors.

Among the many cast members to contribute to Coronation Street's initial popularity were 16-year veteran Margot Bryant as Minnie Caldwell, 24-year veteran Jack Howarth as Albert Tatlock, 21-year veteran Violet Carson as Ena Sharples, 23-year veteran Patricia Phoenix as Elsie Tanner and William Roache as Ken Barlow, who has been a part of the show since the first episode! He is also credited as being the actor with the longest history on any British soap opera.

During the program's second decade on the air, the cast went through some major changes. Several of the original cast members left, for reasons ranging from illness to death. This meant major changes for the program's characters, too; suddenly, the actors who had been relegated to the background were enjoying more time in the spotlight, and many of these characters became regulars that endured through the decade. Among them were Thelma Barlow as Mavis Wilton, Barbara Knox as Rita Littlewood and Helen Worth as Gail Potter.

The 1980s signified a new era in more ways than one for Coronation Street, as many actors moved on, were killed off in the show and, in at least one case, passed away in real life. This led to a mass upheaval of sorts, particularly since the media had started to predict that Coronation Street was headed for cancellation. This was not to be, though, as once again writers made good use of the actors who had previously stood in the background. Among those who became stars during the '80s were Jill Summers as Phyllis Pearce, Bill Waddington as Percy Sugden and Lisa Lewis as Shirley Armitage, the program's first black character.

In the 1990s, the program dealt with its fair share of criticism, due in great part to its lack of minority actors. The '90s finally saw an Asian family, the Desais, became a regular part of the cast. Several other beloved characters, including Sarah Lancashire's Raquel Wolstenhulme, Elizabeth Bradley's Maud Grimes and Steven Arnold's Ashley Peacock, also joined the show during this period. One of the biggest changes to affect the program came in 1997, when a new producer took charge and promptly fired many of the older actors who had been on the show for years. His intent was to reign in a new audience by adding younger actors to the cast.

Stories about murder, homosexuality, bigamy and abuse reigned supreme during the 2000s, and they were supported by a talented cast of newcomers and stalwarts alike. Some of the program's most popular characters ever were introduced during this period, including Suranne Jones' Karen McDonald and Antony Cotton's Sean Tully. Later in the decade, actor Kenneth Cope, who made his first appearance on the show in 1961 and left in 1966, returned for the first time in 42 years!

If you have some time on your hands, you can enjoy photographs of the Coronation Street cast through the years at Corrie.net, a site devoted to everything related to the popular program. You can also read biographies of the entire cast and even contact select actors via their agents through the provided addresses.

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