Born:
                                                                              May 28, 1935
                          
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Birthplace: Newcastle Upon Tyne, England
                                                  
                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
                                                
                          Trivia:
                          Her father was a foreign correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, leading her to travel abroad occasionally to spend time with her parents in India, Tehran and Beirut. Became a stage manager and worked in repertory theatre after graduating from RADA. Spent ten years on landmark soap, Coronation Street, before leaving in 1971. 18.9 million people watched the funeral of her character, Val, in Coronation Street, in 1971, after she had been electrocuted by a faulty hair drier. Filmed scenes for Love Actually (2003), playing a headmistress tending to her dying partner, but her scenes were ultimately cut from the film. Won the London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actress of the Year in 2004 for the film The Mother. Played Jack's mother in Into the Woods at the Royal Opera House in London in 2007. Appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2010. Received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Sunderland in 2015. Underwent hip replacement surgery in 2019.