Betty Alberge

Betty Alberge (22 January 1922 – 18 May 1991) was an English theatre, radio and television actress, with an extensive career which ran from the late 1930s to the 1980s. She was best known for her roles as Florrie Lindley in Coronation Street, in which she appeared between 1960 and 1965, and as Edna Cross in Brookside between 1983 and 1985.

Early life Alberge was born in Manchester, Lancashire on 22 January 1922, and received her formal education at Fallowfield Central School for Girls in Manchester. Whilst at school she became interested in acting after performing in a school theatrical production of Maurice Maeterlinck's The Death of Tintagiles with school friend Patricia Pilkington, later to become known as Pat Phoenix and play Elsie Tanner in Coronation Street.

Acting career After initial training to be an actress at the Repertory School of Acting in Manchester, Alberge completed her training with the Colwyn Bay Repertory Company, at the New Rialto Theatre in Colwyn Bay. During World War II she was employed as a performer with ENSA. In the 1950s she worked with a wide variety dramatic productions in theatre and with the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Later work After she left Coronation Street, Alberge continued to perform in theatre, and regularly appeared as a supporting character actress in television dramas and light entertainment shows from the 1960s to the 1980s, including Z-Cars, the Ken Dodd Show, Crown Court, Rentaghost, Odd Man Out and Juliet Bravo. In November 1983, she joined the cast of Brookside, playing pensioner Edna Cross. She remained in this role until the character's death in 1985, after just over 100 episodes. When Alberge learned that her character was to be written out of the soap, she said "Life goes on."

Her last on screen performance was in 1986 in an episode of the BBC's Casualty. The couple had one daughter, Christine, in 1947.

Death Alberge died on 18 May 1991, aged 69, in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Type 1959 Post and Pheasant Mrs Throttle TV movie 1960 Coronation Street: First Dry Run Florrie Lindley TV movie 1966 Second Honeymoon Agnes Bowden TV movie 1971 Crucible of Terror Dorothy Clare Feature film 1972 Disciple of Death Dorothy Feature film 1980 Exchange and Divide Mrs Carr Feature film

Television Year Title Role Type 1958 Television Playwright Lucy Parkinson TV play series, season 1, episode 14: "Red Rose for Ransom" 1958 ITV Play of the Week Mrs Broome TV play series, season 4, episode 1: "Mary Broome" 1959 The Ken Dodd Show TV series, 1 episode 1960 BBC Sunday-Night Play Mrs Doyle TV play series, season 1, episode 17: "Twentieth Century Theatre: Love on the Dole" 1960 Knight Errant Limited Receptionist / Mrs Rigby-Jones TV series, season 2, 2 episodes 1960–65 Coronation Street Florrie Lindley TV series, 288 episodes 1968 The Wednesday Play Ivy TV play series, season 8, episode 3: "The Gorge" 1969 Nearest and Dearest Mrs Rowbottom TV series, season 2, episode 2: "Wish You Were Here" 1969 Softly Softly: Task Force Mrs Dawkins TV series, season 1, episode 1: "Arrival" 1969–72 ITV Playhouse Mrs Milner / Marge TV play series, 2 episodes 1969–76 Z-Cars Various characters TV series, 6 episodes 1970 Francis Durbridge's Paul Temple Joan Langford TV series, season 2, episode 13: "Re-take" 1971 Public Eye Mrs Greene TV series, season 5, episode 8: "Who Wants to Be Told Bad News?" 1971 The Fenn Street Gang Mrs Mathews TV series, season 1, episode 12: "Who Was That Lady?" 1973 Harriet's Back in Town Mrs Henry TV series, season 1, 2 episodes 1973 Crown Court Mrs Winifred Cummings TV series, season 2, episode 141: "A Message to Ireland: Part 3" 1974 A Raging Calm Mrs Baxter Miniseries, episode 6: "Missing Persons" 1974 Zodiac Paula Sutton TV series, season 1, episode 2: "The Cool Aquarian" 1974 Marked Personal Mabel Green TV series, season 1, 2 episodes 1974 Late Night Drama Mother TV series, season 1, episode 2: "A Brisk Dip Sagaciously Considered" 1974 Father Brown Mrs Gow TV series, season 1, episode 11: "The Head of Caesar" 1975 Rooms Miss Gardner TV series, season 1, episodes 18–19 1975 Rule Britannia! Landlady TV series, season 1, episode 6: "The Lost Weekend" 1975–79 Play for Today Mum / Mrs Longstaff TV play series, 2 episodes 1976–79 Rentaghost Mrs Sheila Mumford TV series, 17 episodes 1977 Centre Play Lil TV play series, season 6, episode 3: "Kipper" 1977 London Belongs to Me Mrs Boon TV series, season 1, 6 episodes 1977 Odd Man Out Auntie Cissie TV series, season 1, episode 1: "A Chip Off the Old Block" 1978 Parables Mrs Shoppe TV series, season 1, episode 4: "Another Weekend" 1978 Robin’s Nest Cynthia Henderson TV series, season 3, episode 6: "Once Two is Three" 1979 House of Caradus Mrs Harris TV series, season 1, episode 7: "Long Shadow" 1979 A Moment in Time Rose TV series, 3 episodes 1981 Funny Man Mrs Gibson TV series, season 1, episode 13: "Trumpet Voluntary" 1981 Lady Killers Margaret Crossley TV series, season 2, episode 3: "Perfect Husband" 1981 Angels Mrs Marrit TV series, season 7, episodes 15–18 1981–82 Juliet Bravo Eunice Prebble / Mrs Webster TV series, 2 episodes 1982 Never the Twain Customer TV series, season 2, episode 6: "The More We Are Together" 1983 Mr Right Mrs Grover TV series, season 1, episodes 1–4 1983–85 Brookside Edna Cross TV series, 103 episodes 1986 Casualty Mrs Davies TV series, season 1, episode 8: "Crazies" (final on-screen performance)