Amanda Barrie
| Amanda Barrie | |
|---|---|
| Born | Shirley Anne Broadbent 14 September 1935 Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England |
| Years active | 1959–present |
| Spouse | Robin Hunter (1967–2004) (Widowed) |
| Partner | Hilary Bonner |
Amanda Barrie (born 14 September 1935) is an English actress.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Born as Shirley Anne Broadbent, Barrie attended St Anne's College, St Anne's on Sea. She then trained at the Arts Educational School in London and later at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. She appeared in pantomime as a child and was a dancer before acting in a number of British television and film roles in the 1960s and 1970s. She was also in two of the Carry On films, a long-running series of British comedy films: she had a supporting turn as a cab driver in Carry On Cabby (1963) and took the title role in Carry On Cleo (1964).
Barrie is well known for her role as a café proprietor's wife, Alma Sedgewick (later Baldwin), on Coronation Street. She was a bit-player in the early to mid-1980s before she was offered a contract in 1988, after which she became a very well known character. She continued in the role until her retirement in 2001. In the story, Alma was diagnosed with cervical cancer which later caused her death.[1] Coronation Street was but a stepping stone on her path to becoming an international star of stage and screen.
Since leaving Coronation Street, she continued to act in the popular ITV1 prison series, Bad Girls, playing inmate Bev Tull from the fifth series to the last, along with Phyl Oswyn played by Stephanie Beacham. The characters together were known as "The Costa Cons". She also became one of the celebrities who took part in Hell's Kitchen; a popular ITV1 "reality TV" series which screened in 2004. While on the show, she became so frustrated with Gordon Ramsay, that she tried to slap him across the face.[2]
From November 2006 to January 2007, Amanda took a starring role in the pantomime adaption of Jack and the Beanstalk in Canterbury. From December 2007 to January 2008, she appeared as the Fairy Godmother in the pantomime adaption of Cinderella at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.[3] From December 2008 to January 2009, she played the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool. She again played the role from December 2009 to January 2010 in Rhyl. In December 2010 and January 2011 she played the role in Bournemouth. She will play the role again from December 2011 to January 2012 in Worthing.
[edit] Personal life
In 1967 Barrie married theatre director Robin Hunter, and stayed with him until the mid-1980s; the couple had no children; he died in 2004. Her current life partner is Hilary Bonner [4] [5].
She came out as bisexual in her autobiography, It's Not a Rehearsal.[6]
[edit] Selected filmography
- Operation Bullshine (1959)
- A Pair of Briefs (1962)
- Carry on Cabby (1963)
- Doctor in Distress (1963)
- Carry on Cleo (1964)
- I've Gotta Horse (1965)
- The Reluctant Romeo (1967)
- Thirty-Minute Theatre (1969)
- One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975)
- Are You Being Served? (1979)
- Time of My Life (1980)
- Coronation Street (1981–2001)
- Dick Whittington (2002)
- Hell's Kitchen (2004)
- Doctors (2003–2004)
- Bad Girls (2002–2006)
[edit] References
- ^ "Alma blasts Street". Manchester Evening News (M.E.N. Media). 18 June 2001. http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/27697_alma_blasts_street.html.
- ^ Amanda Barrie hitting Gordon Ramsay. Youtube.
- ^ "Having a ball". The Comet. 27 September 2007. http://www.thecomet.net/search/story.aspx?brand=CMTOnline&category=News&itemid=WEED27%20Sep%202007%2011:00:05:620&tBrand=CMTOnline&tCategory=search. Retrieved 2 October 2007.[dead link]
- ^ Natalie Anglesey (2006-07-13). "Amanda's Bad and loving it!". Manchester Evening News. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/entertainment/film_and_tv/s/217/217948_amandas_bad_and_loving_it.html.
- ^ Jackie McGlone (2002-10-20). "Let Sleeping Actors Lie". Scotland on Sunday. http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/spectrum.cfm?id=1150722002.
- ^ Anglesey, Natalie (13 July 2006). "Amanda's Bad and loving it!". Manchester Evening News (M.E.N. Media). http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/217948_amandas_bad_and_loving_it.html.
