- published: 17 Apr 2010
- views: 51195
Doris Speed, MBE (3 February 1899 – 16 November 1994) was an English actress, best known for her role as snooty Rovers Return landlady Annie Walker on Coronation Street, a role she played from 1960 to 1983.
As a child she toured with her musical and comedy artist parents - George Speed and Ada Worsley, moving to different schools - almost every week. Her debut came to her at the age of three years old, as she toddled on to stage in a nightdress to sing a song about a golliwog. Two years later, she made her acting debut as the velvet-suited infant Prince of Rome in a Victorian melodrama, called The Royal Divorce. She then appeared in repertory theatres and in numerous radio plays. She left acting to work for, amongst others, the Guinness brewery in Manchester, as a clerk. Returning to acting relatively late in life, she had a small role in the 1960 Stanley Baker vehicle Hell Is a City which was set in Manchester.
She also worked on a 1950s police television series Shadow Squad. In 1960, close friend and writer of Shadow Squad Tony Warren created the soap opera Coronation Street, purportedly writing the character of Annie Walker specifically for her
Doris Speed on Happy Birthday Coronation Street - 9 December 1990.avi
Coronation Street: A tribute to Doris Speed Part 1
Classic Corrie Doris Speed
Death of Doris Speed
Minnie Caldwell Remembered - A Tribute to Margot Bryant (Part 3 of 3)
Coronation Street A Tribute to Doris Speed
Coronation Street A Tribute to Doris Speed
"Howard & Doris" speed drawing
Coronation Street - 1980 - Elsie's Sofa Fire Part 1
The Coronation Street Years (Part 2)
Speed Drawing - Doris Yeh
Westside Barbell Speed Bench
Actors: Adrian Johnston (composer), Steven Berkoff (actor), John Thomson (actor), Celia Imrie (actress), Jane Horrocks (actress), Henry Goodman (actor), Lynda Baron (actress), Charles Sturridge (director), Phoebe Nicholls (actress), Shaun Dooley (actor), Kieran Roberts (producer), Charlotte Walter (costume designer), Jonathan Bridge (actor), Christian McKay (actor), Kayleigh Cruickshank (miscellaneous crew),
Plot: In 1960 a former child actor with writing ambitions,Mancunian Tony Warren begins submitting television scripts for 'Shadow Squad' to progressive Canadian producer Harry Elton,who wants to nurture local talent. Tony,however,is keen to sell a drama he has written about real Northerners,called 'Florizel Street',after a picture of Prince Florizel in his office. Harry is supportive but Granada studio boss Sidney Bernstein is lukewarm,feeling it is seedy and unglamorous. Fortunately his brother Cecil sees the virtue in cheaply made studio drama with local actors and,with writer Harry Kershaw and director Derek Bennett on board,the street's residents are cast. Thirteen episodes are commissioned but the pivotal character of battle-axe Ena Sharples is proving impossible to cast until Tony brings in a cantankerous old actress from his radio days - Violet Carson. She is perfect. Less perfect is the title,which the tea lady says sounds like disinfectant. A new title must be found quickly - and so 'Coronation Street' is born.
Genres: Drama,