Joanna Lumley is widely known for her TV roles on The Avengers and Absolutely Fabulous, but in 1973 she starred in Coronation Street too.
The actress was cast as Weatherfield’s Elaine Perkins – a girlfriend of longstanding Street resident, Ken Barlow (played by Bill Roach). Famed for her blonde tresses as an industry veteran today, Joanna’s cobbles image is unrecognisable – a time when she sported long brunette hair.
Although she only featured in eight episodes, her character clearly made an impression on womaniser Ken, who proposed to her during her short-lived stint. Joanna, who turned 78 today (May 1), admitted her rejection of Ken prompted the public to “hate” her.
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“Ken Barlow proposed to me and my character said no!” she told pal Gyles Brandreth on his Rosebud podcast. But had her time on Corrie lasted longer, perhaps things could have worked out differently.
(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Bur)
Joanna continued: “I said, ‘Couldn’t she just say yes and I could be in [the soap] for more than eight episodes?’ They said, ‘No, you’re just an interim, we’re going on with someone far more important than you!’
“I said, ‘But I could stay! Do I really have to say, ‘It’s so boring living in Coronation Street?’ Do I have to say that?’ They said, ‘Yes you do’ and of course the public hate me! I’d just turned down Ken Barlow and I’d said it’s boring living in Coronation Street. I’d thought my life was rock bottom.”
(Image: ITV / Rex Features)
Joanna went on to brand jealous Ken a “provincial twit” after he accused Elaine of being “permissive” with other men. From there Joanna was never seen on the ITV show again, and embarked on a career in modelling.
Discussing the change in career, she added: “I know it sounds like a snooty thing to say because catalogue work is great, but as a model, it was rock bottom!” Three years later, however, she landed her big break on a return to acting in The New Avengers, playing spy, Purdey.
(Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
“I thought it would change my money. It didn’t. It was really mean – they got me on a five-year contract and they said, ‘The first two years are rock bottom. After that, it begins to soar. By the end of it, you will own Scotland!'”
However, Joanna joked: “I thought, ‘This is the job for me.’ But what they didn’t tell me is that they planned to stop the show after two years!”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
