Doris Speed

Doris Speed MBE
Born	Doris Speed 3 February 1899 Manchester, Lancashire, England
Died	16 November 1994(1994-11-16) (aged 95) Bury, Greater Manchester
Occupation	Television actress

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.

Early life and career

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

She appeared in 1,746 episodes and was one of only a handful of original cast members still appearing in the 1980s. Towards the end of her run on Coronation Street, a national newspaper published her birth certificate, which proved her to be many years older than she had claimed. She publicly fainted when she learned the news, while at work on Coronation Street. She was advised to go home to rest and never returned. Weeks later, burglars robbed her house while she was asleep.

Later years

The stress surrounding the incidents caused her to have a minor breakdown, and she left the show to live the rest of her days in a nursing home, although she made a guest appearance in the 30th anniversary special programme, Happy Birthday Coronation Street in 1990, where she was given a standing ovation. Her final television appearance was an interview given with the actor Kenneth Farrington (her on-screen son) in 1993. She died in 1994, at the age of 95.

Personal life

Doris Speed never married: she lived with her mother, a former music hall performer, until the latter's death in 1973. Unlike the stereotypically-Tory Annie Walker, Speed was a lifelong supporter of the Labour Party [1].

She was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on 29 November 1977, for her impact on British society in the role of Annie.

External links

• Doris Speed at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Speed, Doris
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	3 February 1899
Place of birth	Manchester, Lancashire, England
Date of death	16 November 1994
Place of death	Bury, Greater Manchester