Lynne Perrie

Lynne Perrie, born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire on April 7, 1931, was a Yorkshire born entertainer who became a household name as Ivy Tilsley in the British soap opera Coronation Street.She began her showbusiness career as a singer in 1956, and throughout the 1960s worked in variety, clubs and concerts, including eight at London's Royal Albert Hall. She regular appearances on the light-entertainment television programmes Stars and Garters and The Good Old Days, and in 1964, supported the Beatles for fifteen concerts. She toured South Africa seven times, and also worked in Germany, Paris, Australia, and the United States. By the end of the decade, she had appeared on the same bill as the Rolling Stones, Sacha Distel, Shirley Bassey, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Lulu.She moved into the acting profession in 1969, when director Ken Loach spotted and cast her as the mother in his award-winning film Kes. Her performance was critically acclaimed, and resulted in her being cast in all her future roles without audition. She joined the cast of Coronation Street in 1971, on a semi-regular basis, and until 1978, when the character of Ivy was made permanent, she kept up with other work.Lynne had a regular television role as Diana Dors' arch enermy Mrs. Petty in the Yorkshire TV comedy series Queenie's Castle, from 1970 to 1972, and appeared in single plays such as Leeds United for the BBC Play for Today slot, and ITV's A Good Human Story, in which she co-starred with Michael Elphick, Kenneth Haigh, Warren Clarke, and Paul Daniels. In between her acting work, which also included guest appearances in serials like Follyfoot, The Cuckoo Waltz and Crown Court, she continued to perform in cabaret.When Ivy became a regular in Coronation Street, the character of the out-spoken, interfering Roman Catholic went from strength-to-strength, especially in the 1980s. Throughout the decade, Lynne carried on with her singing career, both on the stage, and on television. In 1989, she co-presented Fight Cancer, a six-week series for the BBC, and appeared on ITV's The Royal Variety Performance.In 1994, Lynne left Coronation Street behind her, and Ivy died off-screen. She wrote her best-selling memoirs Secrets of the Street, and for the next three years, found herself busy with cabaret engagments, stage acting, after-dinner speeches, and she became a regular on television chat shows. In 1996, she was the subject of a Channel 4 documentary, The Ghost of Ivy Tilsley. To promote the programme, she appeared on GMTV, where she also sang 'You Needed Me' live.Lynne Perrie passed away at the age of 74 on March 24, 2006, following a stroke.