Anne Kirkbride, Coronation Street's Deirdre Barlow, Dies Aged 60

Coronation Street star Anne Kirkbride passed away today aged 60.

The actress, who played Deirdre Barlow for 43 years, announced in September she was taking a three month break from the show.

She  was expected to make her long-awaited return to Coronation Street this month.

Anne was previously diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1993, but following successful treatment returned to the soap within 12 months.

Speaking in 2001, Anne revealed the diagnosis brought in its wake a lengthy battle with depression that made her life ‘unbearable’ over the years that followed.

The actress was originally granted an eight-week break from the show back in September, however, after enjoying some time off she then requested a further three months additional leave while she dealt with ‘personal issues’.

Deirdre’s character has been at the forefront of high profile plot developments since the turn of the year, with son Peter wrongly jailed for the murder of Tina McIntyre and husband Ken, played by veteran William Roache.

Roache made his own comeback in June after being cleared of historical rape and sexual assault charges at Preston Crown Court.

Anne, married to actor David Beckett – who she met on the show 22 years ago – has played Deirdre since 1972.

Over the last year, Anne's character had been at the centre of a high-profile storyline which involved her son Peter Barlow being wrongly jailed for the murder of Tina McIntyre and husband Ken, who is played by William Roache, returning to the Cobbles after his stay in Canada with grandson Adam.

The husky-voiced actress had spoken about her struggle with the diagnosis and despite recovery, talked about how it had made her life "unbearable" over the years.

Speaking in 2001, she said: "I just wanted to die because you just don’t want to go on living feeling like that.

"But you’re frightened that if you die you might still feel like that on the other side.

"There's no escape."

She continued: "It was worse than the cancer in a way because that was going to be over.

"I knew it was bad but I knew at the end I was going to get better.

"But this… was just so frightening."


- www.mirror.co.uk