Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Distinguish Template:Infobox person
Jean Margaret Hodgkinson<ref name="ODNB">Template:Cite ODNB</ref> (11 October 1926 – 14 October 2016), known by the stage name Jean Alexander, was a British actress. She was best known to television viewers for her long running role of Hilda Ogden in the soap opera Coronation Street, a role she played from 1964 until 1987, and also as Auntie Wainwright in the long-running sitcom Last of the Summer Wine from 1988 to 2010. For her role in Coronation Street, she won the 1985 Royal Television Society Award for Best Performance, and received a 1988 BAFTA TV Award nomination for Best Actress.
Early lifeEdit
Jean Margaret Hodgkinson was born at 18 Rhiwlas Street in the Toxteth area of Liverpool, Lancashire on 11 October 1926, to Nell and Archie Hodgkinson; her father worked as an electrician and the family lived in a terraced house with no indoor lavatory. Alexander had an elder brother, Kenneth. She aspired to become an actress from an early age, and later said that she was inspired by variety acts she saw at the Pavilion theatre in her home city. She attended St Edmund's College for Girls in Princes Park, Toxteth<ref name=telegraph>Jean Alexander Obituary in The Telegraph Retrieved 17 October 2016</ref> and as a teenager, she joined an amateur theatre group and took elocution lessons.<ref name=Guardian_obit>Template:Cite news</ref>
CareerEdit
Alexander spent five years as a library assistant in Liverpool before she began her acting career in 1949 at the Adelphi Guild Theatre in Macclesfield.<ref name=Guardian_obit /><ref name=BBC-obit /> She first appeared as Florrie in Sheppey by Somerset Maugham.<ref name=Guardian_obit /> She later worked in rep in Oldham, Stockport and York. Most of her parts were minor,<ref name=Guardian_obit /> and she also worked as a wardrobe mistress and stage manager. Her television debut is variously given as in the police series Z-Cars<ref name=BBC-obit>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (1962) or in Deadline Midnight (1961).<ref name=Guardian_obit />
Coronation StreetEdit
Alexander first appeared in Coronation Street in 1962 in a minor role as a landlady.<ref name=Guardian_obit /><ref name=BBC-obit /> Two years later, she returned to the programme as Hilda Ogden. She started playing the role on 8 July 1964, and left the show on 25 December 1987. Ogden became highly popular with viewers and Alexander was often identified with her character.<ref name=Guardian_obit /> In the 40 Years on Coronation Street special, she recounted an incident that had happened years previously: while she was shopping, a fan asked if she was Hilda. She responded in her normal accent, "I beg your pardon?" Taken aback, the fan said, "Oh, don't you talk funny!"<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
The British League for Hilda Ogden was established in 1979 by Sir John Betjeman, Willis Hall, Russell Harty, Laurence Olivier and Michael Parkinson, among others.<ref name=Guardian_obit /><ref name=Radio_Times_obit>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1984, hundreds of fans sent her condolence cards after the death of her on-screen husband Stan Ogden; the actor who played him, Bernard Youens, died a few months before his character was killed off. In 1985 she received the Royal Television Society Award for her performance on Coronation Street.<ref name=BBC-obit /> When she decided to leave the show in 1987, fans started "Save Hilda!" campaigns; however, many were unaware she had made her own decision to depart.Template:Cn Her final scenes in the programme were aired on 25 December 1987, attracting nearly 27 million viewers, the highest number in the show's history.<ref name=BBC-obit /><ref name=Radio_Times_obit /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2005 the UK TV Times poll voted her as the "Greatest Soap Opera Star of All Time".<ref>Template:Citation</ref> On 6 December 2010, Alexander spoke by telephone to ITV's This Morning to discuss her time on Coronation Street on the day of the drama's 50th anniversary episode.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Other rolesEdit
In 1988, Alexander made a guest appearance in the long-running BBC comedy series Last of the Summer Wine as Auntie Wainwright, the money-grabbing local junk shop owner. She returned for a second guest appearance in 1989, and finally became a series regular in 1992, remaining until the end of the series in 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Her film credits include Scandal (1989)<ref name=Guardian_obit /><ref name=BBC-obit /> and Willie's War (1994). Alexander voiced Mrs Santa in the Robbie the Reindeer film Hooves of Fire (1999),<ref name=Guardian_obit /> and also appeared in Boon<ref name=BBC-obit /> and as Lily in the children's series The Phoenix and the Carpet.<ref name=Telegraph_obit>Template:Cite news</ref> She starred with Patricia Hodge and Lionel Jeffries in the comedy series Rich Tea and Sympathy,<ref name=BBC-obit /><ref name=Telegraph_obit /> and appeared in the quiz show Cluedo.<ref name=BBC-obit /> Later, she appeared in Barbara,<ref name=BBC-obit /><ref name=Radio_Times_obit /> Heartbeat,<ref name=Radio_Times_obit /> Where the Heart Is<ref name=Radio_Times_obit /> and The Afternoon Play.
Personal life and deathEdit
Alexander never married, stating that she put her acting career first.<ref name=Guardian_obit /> She was a close friend of her Coronation Street husband, Bernard Youens.<ref name=Guardian_obit /> Her autobiography, The Other Side of the Street: The Autobiography of Jean Alexander, was published in 1989.
She lived for many years in Southport, Merseyside, and in 2009 she joined with others to campaign successfully for a temporary library in the town while the central library was being refurbished.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> She was a keen gardener<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and after her death was commemorated in the town with a memorial bench at Southport Flower Show, where she was a regular visitor.<ref name=SouthportVisiter170815>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=visiter>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
She donated her 1955 Qualcast Panther lawnmower to the British Lawnmower Museum in the town, where it is still on display.<ref name=SouthportVisiter170815 /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Alexander announced her retirement in 2012, two years after her last television appearance. Her acting career lasted for more than 60 years.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She celebrated her 90th birthday on 11 October 2016, but was taken ill and died three days later in Southport Hospital.<ref name=visiter/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
FilmographyEdit
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Deadline Midnight | Mrs. Gibson |
| ITV Television Playhouse: Different Drum | ||
| 1962–1963 | Television Club | Mrs. Wade |
| 1962–1963 | Z Cars | Mrs. Cantrell / Amy Ford / Mrs. Hopkins |
| 1962 | Emergency Ward 10 | Mrs. Nicholls |
| 1962 | Coronation Street | Mrs. Webb (2 episodes) |
| 1964–1987 | Hilda Ogden (1,614 episodes) | |
| 1964 | Mary Barton | Mrs. Jones (2 episodes) |
| 1988, 1989 1992–2010 |
Last of the Summer Wine | Auntie Wainwright (168 episodes) |
| 1991 | Rich Tea and Sympathy | Granny Trellis |
| 1993–1995 | Harry | Irene Paterson |
| 1993 | I, Lovett | Elsie Mittens |
| Cluedo | Marjory Hunt | |
| 1997 | Adam's Family Tree | Winifred Whisper |
| The Phoenix and the Carpet | Lily | |
| 1999 | Hooves of Fire (TV short) | Mrs. Santa (voice) |
| 2000–2002 | Where the Heart Is | Kathleen Beresford/ Joan Cotter |
| 2001, 2003 | Heartbeat | Lily Barton |
| 2002 | Barbara | Queenie Liversidge |
| 2004 | The Afternoon Play: Drive | Enid |
| 2006 | To the Sean Again (short film) | Annie |
Awards and nominationsEdit
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | RTS Award | Best Actress<ref name=BBC-obit /> | Coronation Street | Template:Won |
| 1987 | BAFTA Award | Best Actress in a Leading Role<ref name=BBC-obit /> | Template:Nominated | |
| 1988 | TV Times Award | Best Actress<ref name=BBC-obit /> | Coronation Street | Template:Won |
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
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