“It’s just a little street..."

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33424, 4 January 1974, Page 4

“It’s just a little street..."

Thirteen years ago a handful of largely unknown actors and actresses were picked for a new television series. It was “Coronation Street”—and today it has brought them all fame and fortune . . .

as long as they don’t walk away from the security that typecasting invariably brings.

It is hardly the most exciting of places. A drab I little street with half a dozen teraced houses, a dreary- | looking pub, a small untidy shop on the corner, and that mournfully familiar signature tune.

Yet it is one of the world’s best-loved television series, because, as actress Pat Phoenix said recently: “ ‘Coronation Street’ plays a very real part in so many people’s lives.”

And since Pat has played the part of Elsie Tanner since the series began, she should know what she is talking about. Last Christmas, for instance, when she was marrying Alan Browning (who played her husband in the series), Elsie’s fans were sending Pat 2000 good-luck letters a week. Dozens of little girls wrote in asking if they could become “Elsie’s bridesmaid” —and one old-age pensioner sent a beautiful antique jug, which was “the most valuable thing I have ... I want you to have it.” Elsie’s gone Now Elsie Tanner’s fans have received a double shock. Not only has Pat left the cast, but her husband, Alan, is following quickly after her.

“I’ve been almost 13 years in the Street,” Pat told me recently, at her home in Cheshire. “Imagine that!” “Thirteen years playing a slut with a Lancashire accent. Now that it’s over I feel j almost light-headed with relief. Now I want to try my hand at. everything from writing scripts, to running a pub and acting good parts lin good plays.” But it was not an easy decision for Pat Phoenix to make — giving up the security of a leading role in one of the world’s most successful series. “The trouble was,” she explained: “I felt that I could play Elsie Tanner standing on my head and, for the last three years, it was like working in a locked cupboard.” .

Hungry years

It called for a lot of heartsearching before she made the decision, because Pat remembers only too well the lean and hungry years as an actress, before she was catapulted to stardom in the “Street.”

That happened after fruitless years in London. In 1960 she returned to her mother’s home in Manchester, her

ambitions, hopes and dreams shattered. Then came the reality of rags to riches on television. The television director, Derek Bennett, well remembers when Granada Television was casting for thei “Coronation Street” charac-j ters and the tall, shapely,) long-haired Pat Phoenixl walked into the studio.

Perfect for part

“Everybody took a double take,” he recalls, “because she seemed so stunningly right for the part, with that long red hair, the eyes and the bust . . . everything seemed so perfect.” And when somebody diplomatically asked her to remove the coat that was draped round her shoulders—“to get a better look at her figure”— Pat replied frostily: “No, thank you.” Bennett grinned to himself when the dark-brown eyes glared angrily around her, and her lips moved as she realised what the intention was. “You’ll bloody well have to guess, won’t you.”

“Pat really was ideal for; the part,” he told me. “She had all the right qualities—the sex appeal, the streak of independence and the talent.” Arthur Lowe (who played Mr Swindley) later marched on to even greater success with “Dad’s Army.” “Believe me,” he told me once, "nothing horrifies an actor more than the thought ; of becoming typecast ... of ■getting better known for the character you play than for I yourself.

"Many actors,” Lowe added, “have given up very lucrative roles, indeed, just to keep their own identities. But the problems start when you’re offered a nice, lucrative contract for doing a job in a series, which you know you can do without too much trouble.” William Roache is one of the first to agree with that. He is better known these days as the “Street’s” Kenneth Barlow — a part he has played for 10 years. But

he realises he is probably risking his long-term acting future by sticking to "Coronation Street.”

“Believe me,” he said, “every time my contract comes up for renewal, I think very seriously of all the other things I could be doing. “Then I become realistic. I remind myself that I’m a maried man with two kids, that I’m playing a role I enjoy and I’m putting lots of money away into my bank account.

“So I sign. And it’s not too bad.

“Although I may be playing the same guy each week, it’s a constant challenge, because Ken Barlow finds himself in different situations each week.”

No big names

None of the “Coronation Street” regulars were "bigname” actors before the series started, but certainly they are all professionals.

Jack Haworth, for instance, is 72, and has had more than 60 years acting experience.

He reckons there is no such thing as a television star. "It’s an over-rated word,” he told me. during a rehearsal in Manchester. “People don’t switch on to watch a person, it’s the programme they want to see.

“ ‘Coronation Street’ is the only star, and it’s the stories that keep it going,” he added. “But the ‘Street’ has been good to a lot of us, because it’s given us something that’s rare in this job — security.” With this security, however, comes fame, and as Jack said: “I find that I can’t go out anywhere now without being recognised—and asked for my autograph.” And that is something he handles on very business-like lines. Often he carries a small accounts book around with him and when anybody asks for an autograph, Jack asks them if they’re prepared to pay for it.

“I’ve collected about £l5OO so far,” he said proudly, “though I’ll still sign for people who can’t afford to pay. The money’s sent to the Stars’ Organisation for Spastics.” The account book, he adds, is kept for several reasons. It helps assure people that he’s not collecting the money for himself, and makes an interesting diary — like recording the day he collected £2 from a fan he met on top of the Jungfrau in the Austrian Alps. — Features International.