Deirdre Barlow

Information about Deirdre Barlow

Coronation Street character
Deirdre Barlow
Played byAnne Kirkbride
Duration1972-
Date of birth8th July 1955
Marital statusMarried
Address1 Coronation Street
OccupationCouncil worker
FamilyTracy, Blanche, Amy, Ken
Deirdre Anne Barlow (née Hunt, formerly Langton and Rachid) is a long-running fictional character on the British soap opera Coronation Street. She has been played by Anne Kirkbride since 1972.

Occupation

In the past, Deirdre has been employed at the Corner Shop, first helping Alf Roberts in the 1980s, and then Dev Alahan two decades later. Currently, however, she works at the council offices as a secretary.

Trademarks

Deirdre's trademarks include a gravelly, scratchy voice (intensifying over the years due to actress Anne Kirkbride's real-life chain smoking), a terrifying neck, and very big glasses. She wore the same style of glasses for almost 30 years (in her youth she was nicknamed "Miss Sexy Spex"), before Dev Alahan crushed them with a box when she put them down for a second. Today, her frames are much smaller than they used to be. Interestingly, Anne Kirkbride does not wear glasses at all, opting for contact lenses. For the first couple of years, Deirdre's glasses on the show did not have any sort of lenses.

Lovers

In the past, Deirdre's boyfriends have included the characters Billy Walker (Ken Farrington), Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs) and Dave Barton (the actor who played Dave, David Beckett, is now Anne's partner). In a number of early scenes Deirdre repeatedly mentioned a former boyfriend known as Seb H. She went through a messy divorce when her first husband, Ray Langton, decided to leave the country in 1978, and moved to Holland. Deirdre stayed behind with their daughter, Tracy. It was after this that Deirdre first dated Mike Baldwin, and attempted reconciliation with Billy Walker (her ex-fiancé), but she soon realised that Ken Barlow was better suited to her.

Marriage to Ken and Samir

In 1981, over 24 million viewers watched Deirdre's wedding to William Roache's character, Ken Barlow (which received higher ratings in Britain than the wedding of the Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer). The marriage got into trouble when Deirdre, feeling insecure, began an affair with Mike Baldwin in late 1982. The story ran on into 1983 and was a ratings winner, the first Corrie story to be written about in length in many of the country's newspapers.
Enlarge picture
Deirdre, after the infamous 1983 incident in which her husband, Ken, lost all control and pinned her up against the door
The episode in which Deirdre broke off with Mike Baldwin after reconciling with Ken was a national event (including being announced on the scoreboard during a Manchester United match, with the words "Ken and Deidre reunited. Ken 1 - Mike 0" leading to cheers from the spectators).

Ken had an affair with his secretary, Wendy Crozier, and Deirdre started divorce proceedings in 1990. True to form, however, the rifts in their tempestuous relationship healed and they got back together. In the interim Deirdre had become a widow; her Moroccan husband, Samir Rachid, was killed by thugs on the day before he was to give his kidney to her daughter, Tracy (who had suffered kidney failure after a drug overdose).

Imprisonment

Enlarge picture
Deirdre after her fraud conviction in 1998.
The most controversial storyline Kirkbride had to play was when her character was sent to prison in 1998 for a crime she did not commit.

Deirdre had begun a relationship with bogus 'airline pilot' Jon Lindsay, who treated her to an extravagant lifestyle, but one which was funded by crime and deception. She remained oblivious to the truth about her boyfriend but she learned the hard way when she was falsely accused of fraud.

Jon had implicated Deirdre in his numerous scams. He portrayed her as the brains behind the fraud but the reality was that she had known nothing about it. Deirdre was tried, convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison. The British public started a big grassroots campaign, pleading with Granada Television to "free the Weatherfield One." The Home Secretary even involved Prime Minister Tony Blair, who, with only a touch of irony, attempted to intervene on Deirdre's behalf. When another of Lindsay's victims came forward, Deirdre was released and Jon was finally made to pay for his crimes.

The traumas of the past year and daughter Tracy's wedding led Deirdre to reunite with Ken in 1999.

Forgiveness and remarriage

In December 2001, Deirdre once again became dissatisfied with her life with Ken. After rowing with Ken and his son Peter, Deirdre slept with Dev Alahan, her boss at the Corner Shop. Afterwards, Dev rejected Deirdre and she subsequently kept her liaison a secret from Ken for over a year, until early 2003, when Dev started dating her daughter Tracy. This prompted Deirdre to confess her fling to both Tracy and Ken, but Ken forgave her and the two subsequently lived happily together, dealing with the trials and tribulations of their children's turbulent love lives rather than their own.

Eventually, Deirdre and Ken were engaged to be married yet again, and tied the knot on April 8, 2005. The marriage was supposed to coincide with the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles, just as Ken and Deirdre's first marriage coincided with Charles and Diana's nuptials, but scheduling conflicts due to Prince Charles going to the funeral of Pope John Paul II ended up throwing the date off by one day. Nearly 13 million people watched the television event. Only nine million watched the royal nuptials; Ken and Deirdre's second ratings victory against the royal family made the national newspapers.

Deirdre's ex-husband Ray Langton eventually returned to the Street in 2005 and announced that he was dying from cancer. He died at Deirdre and Ken's wedding reception held at the Rovers Return.

Charlie's murder and Tracy's conviction

Deirdre is now facing darker times. Tracy has been found guilty of the murder of Charlie Stubbs. Although Deirdre did her best to defend her daughter in court, she had been made aware of the truth about Charlie's death on 25th March 2007, when Tracy explained that she had killed him in cold-blood. Consequently, she ended up having a panic attack in the witness box. Tracy's fifteen year sentence has devastated Deirdre and left her relationship with Ken on rocky grounds.

Separation

After weeks of turmoil at No. 1 Coronation Street, Ken offered Deirdre a shocking ultimatum. In the middle of a blazing row, he announced that if she left, he would be gone by the time she got back. True to his word, Ken Barlow is currently separated from his wife and began rebuilding a relationship with his son Daniel Osbourne, and the child's mother, Denise Osbourne. Deirdre, full of resentment, promised to confront Denise, and on 11 May 2007 matters came to a head. The pair rowed in front of an audience at the Rovers Return, an argument which resulted in Deirdre slapping her nemesis, who was then ushered out by Ken.

Deirdre has since tried to mend her relationship with Ken and even apologised for her behaviour in the Rovers', but she failed to convince him to come back to her at that time. Ken has since returned to No.1 and has reconciled with Deirdre.

Family

Friends

External Links

  •  • [ edit] 
Coronation Street
Current characters
Ken Barlow | Emily Bishop | Rita Sullivan | Betty Williams | Deirdre Barlow | Gail Platt | Blanche Hunt | Vera Duckworth | Audrey Roberts | Jack Duckworth | Kevin Webster | Bill Webster | Sally Webster | Sarah-Louise Platt | Liz McDonald | Steve McDonald | Rosie Webster | David Platt | Norris Cole | Sophie Webster | Roy Cropper | Ashley Peacock | Janice Battersby | Leanne Battersby | Hayley Cropper | Tyrone Dobbs | Dev Alahan | Bethany Platt | Eileen Grimshaw | Maria Sutherland | Kirk Sutherland | Jason Grimshaw | Paul Clayton | Fiz Brown | Joshua Peacock | Claire Peacock | Sean Tully | Cilla Battersby-Brown | Chesney Battersby-Brown | Amy Barlow | Jamie Baldwin | Kelly Crabtree | Violet Wilson | Lloyd Mullaney | Molly Compton | Amber Kalirai | Vernon Tomlin | Becky Grainger | Michelle Connor | Freddie Peacock | Ryan Connor | Liam Connor | Carla Connor | Roger Stiles | Jodie Morton | Wilfred Morton | Doreen Fenwick | Jerry Morton | Darryl Morton | Mel Morton | Kayleigh Morton | Finlay Bryant | John Stape | Frank Nichols | Marcus Dent |
Recurring Characters
Yvonne Casey | Yana Lumb | Wiki Dankowska | George Trench | Ivor Priestley
Media
VHS and DVD releases
Related topics
Storylines | Weatherfield | Rovers Return Inn | Sets | Timeline | Humour
 •  • [ e]
The Barlow family in Coronation Street
Anne Kirkbride

Birth name Anne Kirbride
Born May 21 1954 (1954--) (age 53)
Oldham, Lancashire
Died

Years active 1972 to present

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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s  1950s  1960s  - 1970s -  1980s  1990s  2000s
1969 1970 1971 - 1972 - 1973 1974 1975

Year 1972 (MCMLXXII
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July 8 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events


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1920s  1930s  1940s  - 1950s -  1960s  1970s  1980s
1952 1953 1954 - 1955 - 1956 1957 1958

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A city council is a form of local government, usually covering a city or other urban area, such as a town.
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Coronation Street character

Tracy Barlow
Played by Kate Ford

Duration 1977-1996, 1997, 1999, 2002-2007
Date of birth 24th January 1977
Marital status Divorced
Address HM Prison, Redford (fictitious)
Occupation none
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Coronation Street character

Blanche Hunt
Played by Maggie Jones

Duration 1974-1976, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1996, 1997, 1998-
Date of birth 22nd January 1927
Marital status Widowed
Address 1 Coronation Street
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Coronation Street character

Ken Barlow
Played by William Roache

Duration 1960-
Date of birth 9 October 1939
Marital status Married
Address 1 Coronation Street
Occupation Retired Teacher
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soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television or radio. Programs described as soap operas have existed as an entertainment long enough for audiences to recognize them simply by the term soap.
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Coronation Street is an award-winning British soap opera. It is the longest-running television soap opera in the United Kingdom, first broadcast on Friday, 9 December, 1960 in the Granada region of ITV.
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Anne Kirkbride

Birth name Anne Kirbride
Born May 21 1954 (1954--) (age 53)
Oldham, Lancashire
Died

Years active 1972 to present

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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s  1950s  1960s  - 1970s -  1980s  1990s  2000s
1969 1970 1971 - 1972 - 1973 1974 1975

Year 1972 (MCMLXXII
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Coronation Street character

Alf Roberts
Played by Bryan Mosley

Duration 1961-1963;
1971-1999
Date of death 1 January 1999
Marital status Deceased
Occupation Postal worker, corner shop proprietor, councilman
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Anne Kirkbride

Birth name Anne Kirbride
Born May 21 1954 (1954--) (age 53)
Oldham, Lancashire
Died

Years active 1972 to present

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Chain smoking is the practice of lighting a new cigarette for personal consumption immediately after one that is finished, sometimes using the finished cigarette to light the next one.
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Glasses, also called eyeglasses or spectacles are frames, bearing lenses worn in front of the eyes normally for vision correction, eye protection, or for protection from UV rays.
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contact lens (also known simply as a "contact") is a corrective, cosmetic, or therapeutic lens usually placed on the cornea of the eye. Modern contact lenses were invented by the Czech chemist Otto Wichterle, who also invented the first gel used for their production.
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Ken Farrington

Birth name Kenneth Farrington
Born March 18 1936 (1936--) (age 71)
Dulwich, London, England

Ken Farrington
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Coronation Street character

Mike Baldwin
Played by Johnny Briggs

Duration 1976-2006
Date of birth 14 February 1942
Date of death 7 April 2006
Marital status Deceased
Occupation Factory Owner
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Johnny Briggs

Johnny Briggs

Occupation actor

Spouse(s) Caroline Sinclair (1961-1975)
Christine Allsop (1975-present)

Children Mark, Karen (with Sinclair); Jennifer, Michael, Stephanie, and Anthony (with Allsop)


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Coronation Street character
Ray Langton
Played by Neville Buswell

Duration 1966-1978, 2005
Date of birth 18 February 1947
Date of death 8 April 2005
Marital status Deceased
Occupation Builder (retired)
Family Tracy and Amy


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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s  1950s  1960s  - 1970s -  1980s  1990s  2000s
1975 1976 1977 - 1978 - 1979 1980 1981

Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII
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Coronation Street character

Tracy Barlow
Played by Kate Ford

Duration 1977-1996, 1997, 1999, 2002-2007
Date of birth 24th January 1977
Marital status Divorced
Address HM Prison, Redford (fictitious)
Occupation none
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engagement is an agreement or promise to marry, and also refers to the time between proposal and marriage. During this period, a couple is said to be affianced, engaged to be married, or simply engaged.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
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1978 1979 1980 - 1981 - 1982 1983 1984

Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI
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William Roache

William Roache as the character Ken Barlow

Born March 25 1932 (1932--) (age 75)
Ilkeston, Derbyshire, UK
Died

Awards
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Coronation Street character

Ken Barlow
Played by William Roache

Duration 1960-
Date of birth 9 October 1939
Marital status Married
Address 1 Coronation Street
Occupation Retired Teacher
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Motto
"Dieu et mon droit" [2]   (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
"God Save the Queen" [3]
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