Betty admitted to hospital

[alan45]

CORRIE'S oldest cast member Betty Driver - 90 next month - is being treated for a chest infection in a private hospital.
Betty - who has played hotpot-making barmaid Betty Williams since 1969 - has spent several days being cared for.

But she has no plans to call time on her career and wants to get back behind the Rovers Return bar.

Co-stars have sent get-well messages and a Street source said: "She is probably the most popular person in the cast.

"Everyone wants her to get well and get back on set."



Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...#ixzz0mNgoKGyq

[moonstorm]

She is brilliant for 90!! Hope she makes a speedy recovery.

[Perdita]

Betty Driver has died in hospital RIP Betty

[Perdita]

Coronation Street favourite Betty Driver has died at the age of 91.

An ITV spokesman said she "died peacefully in hospital" in the early hours of this morning.

She had played the role of Rovers Return barmaid Betty Williams (Turpin) in the soap for 42 years.

The actress had been in hospital for six weeks. She had also been unwell earlier in the year and was treated for a chest infection in 2010.

The ITV spokesman said: "She will be sadly missed by everyone who knew her."

Barbara Knox, who plays Rita Sullivan in Coronation Street, said: "I have lost a very dear friend and the Street has lost a very great character, a professional to her fingertips - she will be greatly missed."

Julie Goodyear, fellow barmaid Bet Lynch in the soap, said: "It was an honour and a privilege to work with Betty Driver for 25 years.

"We laughed together, we cried together and never once had a cross word. She was a totally professional actress. A true icon and legend and a very dear friend."

Julie said Betty was "the very foundation of the Rovers Return" and added: "She will be missed and remembered by millions."

Betty had originally auditioned for the role of Hilda Ogden in 1964 after a 36-year-career in radio, television and the stage. She was then persuaded to come out of retirement in 1969 to audition for the role of Betty instead.

Her character became known for her famous hotpot - but Betty herself never tasted the dish as she did not eat meat.

Last year, when the soap celebrated its 50th anniversary, Betty insisted she would never retire from the show.

She said at the time: "I love working. I can't retire, I won't retire - I never ever will."

Betty appeared in more than 2,800 episodes of Coronation Street and was made an MBE in the Millennium New Year's Honours list.

Coronation Street executive producer Kieran Roberts said: "Betty was a wonderful actress and remarkable woman.

"It is humbling to think that the 42 years she spent on Coronation Street was just half of her extraordinary career but Coronation Street certainly benefited when she decided to join our show in 1969.

"For more than four decades she delighted many millions of Coronation Street fans with her fantastic performance in countless great stories both dramatic and comic.

"Betty was always a delight to work with and whilst there is a great sadness at her passing away Betty will be remembered by everyone on Coronation Street with tremendous admiration and affection."

Simon Gregson, who plays Steve McDonald, said: "I have known Betty since I was 15 years old, we always had a very good relationship and I was fortunate to be one of her friends and I am going to miss her."

Her close friend Charles Orr said: "A true legend has left us with enough love and memories to last a lifetime."



Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/tv/so...#ixzz1aqbrMqUm

[Perdita]

Coronation Street stars have been paying tribute to Betty Driver today, following news of her death.

The actress, who played Rovers Return barmaid Betty Williams for 42 years, "died peacefully" on Saturday morning after spending the last six weeks in hospital.

Some of the ITV1 show's biggest stars have since wrote messages on Twitter remembering the Weatherfield legend, whose character was famous for her hotpot.

Jennie McAlpine (Fiz Stape): "Betty. What a lady. What a life. Wonderful to have known her xx"

Helen Flanagan (Rosie Webster): "Just heard that Betty Driver has died. Absolute legend. She will be so missed x Thoughts are with Mark Hudson who was also very close x"

Andrew Lancel (Frank Foster): "Dear wonderful Betty Driver has died. An extraordinary lady and life. Honoured to have met her and be in her company. A true legend. Xxxxx."

Antony Cotton (Sean Tully): "Today is a very sad day. I am devastated. We've lost our Betty. She was one of the funniest people I've ever met and definitely the kindest. I will miss her so much. Her star shone bright and long. Sweet dreams, Duck."

Charlie Condou (Marcus Dent): "Very sad to hear our wonderful Betty Driver has passed away. A true Corrie legend. She will be missed #ripbetty"

[alan45]

How utterly sad. She was an institution and one of those people you thought was going to live forever. Although she has not played a major role for sone time now I'm sure her loss will be felt by many.

[parkerman]

Absolutely, Alan. She will be sadly missed. Her presence on set even when she didn't have much to do put others in the shade by sheer weight of personality. A real legend (unlike other supposed legends we could mention).

Let's hope she hasn't gone to the hot pot.

[mrskh]

that is really sad that she has gone she has been on it for a while

[Dazzle]

Very sad news - RIP Betty.

[alan45]

Elizabeth Mary Driver was born on May 20, 1920 in Leicester. The daughter of a policeman, her family moved to Manchester when she was two, where by her own admission she experienced an unhappy childhood.

Driver and her sister Freda were never given any affection by their mother Nellie, and she was pushed into becoming a child star at the tender age of eight after her mother discovered she could sing. "I was the meal ticket for the entire family," she later revealed.

At 12, she was touring the UK and attending different schools every week. When Driver reached 14, she secured the leading role in the revue Mr Tower of London. George Formby later cast her in Boots! Boots!, but her scenes as a cabaret singer were left out of the final cut at the insistence of Formby's wife, Beryl, who didn't want to be upstaged.

By the age of 21, Driver finally had control of her own earnings and became a big band singer. She toured with the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA), regularly entertaining the troops during World War Two. She shared a dressing room with a young Julie Andrews at the Coventry Hippodrome on the night the city was was bombed by German forces.

Driver recorded her first song, 'Jubilee Baby', at the age of 14 and went on to release a number of successful records. However, an operation on her vocal chords prematurely ended her singing career.