Betty Driver

Elizabeth (Betty) Mary Driver (20 May 1920 – 15 October 2011) was a British actress and singer, best known for her role as Betty Williams in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street, a role she played for 42 years from 1969 to 2011, appearing in 2,732 episodes. She had previously appeared as Mrs Edgley in Coronation Street spin-off Pardon the Expression (1965–1966) opposite Arthur Lowe. In her early career Driver was a singer, appearing in musical films such as Boots! Boots!, opposite George Formby, and in Penny Paradise (1938), directed by Carol Reed. She was made an MBE in the 2000 New Year Honours.

Early life Elizabeth Mary Driver was born on 20 May 1920 at the Prebend Nursing Home, Leicester, the elder of two daughters of Frederick and Nellie Driver. She weighed 5.5 kg (12 lb). Her father had fought in the trenches during the First World War and later became a policeman. However, Driver described her mother as "the driving force" in her life. She commented: "the only way I can explain her behaviour is that she wanted to live out her ambitions through me." where they lived in a semi-detached house with other police families as neighbours. Driver went to school at Wilbraham Road, and was later joined there by her younger sister Freda, who shared a class with a young Patricia Manfield, later known as Pat Phoenix, the actress who went on to play the role of Elsie Tanner in Coronation Street, alongside Driver. She was singing for the BBC by the age of 10, and began touring across the UK in her first revue at the age of 12. While performing in London at the age of 14, Driver was spotted by the agent Bert Aza, who was in partnership with his brother Archie Pitt, Gracie Fields' husband. Despite her young age, he booked her for the lead in a revival of Mr Tower of London (alongside comedian Norman Evans) which ran for about two years. The same show had brought Gracie Fields to prominence 19 years earlier. Driver was also approached by George Formby after he and his wife Beryl saw her perform in Manchester. The Formbys wanted Driver to appear in their new film, Boots! Boots! (1934); however, according to Driver, Beryl Formby saw her rehearsing and decided that she did not want to be outperformed by Driver, and sent her away. The producers felt so bad about the way Driver had been treated that they refused to take her name off the film credits, even though it was long thought she did not appear in the theatrical release.

At 16, she was in a West End show called Home and Beauty. Film director Basil Dean, after seeing her in Jimmy Hunter's Brighton Follies, cast her in the film Penny Paradise (1938), filmed at ATP studios in Ealing. After a few months of variety and radio work, she returned to the studio to make her second film, Let's Be Famous. They had just completed the film when the Second World War broke out and the studios were closed. Nineteen at the time, Driver resumed touring the country in variety shows. It was at this time that her act and image altered. Against her mother's wishes, Driver and her sister modernised her performance and Driver became a ballad singer. Shortly after, during a six-month run in a revue called Twice in a Blue Moon, Driver and her sister parted company with their mother following a cardiac asthma attack which restricted her mobility. then barely out of his teens. She recorded many popular tunes in the 1940s and became an established singer during this time. Aged 14, she made her first record "Jubilee Baby", had another major success with "The Sailor with the Navy Blue Eyes", and made several more hit records.

In 1964, she auditioned for the role of Hilda Ogden in the television series Coronation Street (the role went instead to Jean Alexander, for the casting directors wanted an actress of slighter build).

In 1969, she was persuaded to come out of retirement to play police officer's wife Betty Turpin in Coronation Street, a role she would play for over 40 years. She was the longest-serving barmaid in the history of the Rover's Return, and Betty's Hot Pot (served at lunchtime in the Rovers) is an iconic dish, which has also been offered as a ready meal in UK supermarkets.

She was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1976, when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews.

In 1994, she was the subject of BBC Radio 2's The Betty Driver Story. It was researched and scripted by Stephen Bourne, who interviewed Driver and her sister Freda for the programme. Other interviewees included William Roache and Julie Goodyear. It was presented by Cilla Black.

Driver wrote a memoir about her years on stage, radio, film and television, titled Betty, which was published in 2000. In an interview on the Parkinson show on 11 November 2006, Sir Ian McKellen revealed that Driver still drove herself into work at 7:30 each morning, despite her age. She was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2000 New Year Honours.

In August 2008, it was announced that Driver was one of several Coronation Street stars who faced large salary cuts. She was reportedly admitted to hospital with a chest infection in April 2010. In May 2010, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the British Soap Awards. There were also rumours that she was to retire; however, these were confirmed as false. Driver vowed in September 2010 never to retire, stating that: "If I retire, I'll be dead in six months with boredom" and stated she still "loved" being part of Coronation Street.

On 23 January 2011, she was the castaway on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.

Personal life Driver said she fell in love several times in her teenage years, but each relationship was ruined by her mother, who wanted to keep her daughter single so as not to lose her free "meal ticket". All the earnings Driver made before she turned 21 and was in charge of her own finances were squandered by her parents. she married South African singer Wally Petersen, something Driver claimed she did out of "defiance" of her domineering mother, who she has said "always felt Wally was only interested in my bank account". The couple later moved to St Albans in Hertfordshire. Driver and her husband moved to South Africa, but she returned a few months later, penniless, ending the marriage after seven years because of her husband's various infidelities. She was in such a bad financial state that her sister had to send her money to allow her to return home to the United Kingdom. On 11 March 1970, Driver was awarded a decree nisi in an undefended lawsuit at Salford Divorce Court. She alleged desertion against her husband, and he was ordered by the judge to pay the costs of the lawsuit.

Following the breakup of her marriage, Driver lived with and cared for her sister Freda until Freda's death in December 2008. The sisters lived in Mellor, Stockport, before moving to Hale Barns in Greater Manchester. They latterly lived in nearby Bowdon.

Driver was godmother to James Roache, the youngest son of William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow in Coronation Street. Roache's son James had a role in Coronation Street as Ken's long-lost grandson, James Cunningham.

Death Driver died on 15 October 2011, aged 91.

Filmography Boots! Boots! (1934) Penny Paradise (1938) Let's Be Famous (1939) Facing the Music (1941) Rooftop Rendezvous (1949–1950) The Betty Driver Show (6 episodes, 1952) Television Christmas Party (1952) Pardon the Expression (31 episodes, 1965–66) Love on the Dole (1967) Coronation Street (1969–2011) – Betty Williams (2,732 episodes)

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result 1987 BASCA Gold Badge of Merit Herself 2010 British Soap Awards Outstanding Achievement Coronation Street 2012 TRIC Awards TV Soap Personality