Coronation Street actor Malcolm Hebden has said his role as Norris Cole was sold to him as a “nosy little prat”.
He’s set to leave the soap after 27 years with a tribute on telly on Monday in Coronation Street Icons.
Malcolm, 81, said: “They said they had written this new part, and he’s an absolute nosy little prat!
“He was an unmarried man, a busybody, and because he had nothing much going on in his own life, he had an extraordinary interest in everybody else’s.
“There’s a lot of Norris in me – I think I’m a bit of an old woman!”
(Image: ITV)
Malcolm said that he decided to call it a day after suffering a serious heart attack in 2017.
He explained: “It took a great deal of courage to make the decision to retire, but although the mind was willing, the body was not so much.”
While Norris will be laid to rest in Weatherfield, Malcolm said his friendship with co-star Patti Clare, who played Mary, will always remain.
He added: “She became one of my best friends. We’re two oddballs, really, in life as well.
(Image: ITV)
“We were lucky to have found each other, but they say there’s a lid for every pot.”
Malcolm was last seen on-screen last year, when he made a brief return as part of a storyline which saw Ken Barlow (Bill Roache) move into a luxury retirement home.
He left the soap as a full time cast member in 2017, though.
Norris wasn’t Malcolm’s first role on the soap though, as he had played Spanish character Carlos in 1974 and 1975.
Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on ITV
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
