Jean Alexander

Jean Margaret Hodgkinson (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 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 life 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 and as a teenager, she joined an amateur theatre group and took elocution lessons.

Career Alexander spent five years as a library assistant in Liverpool but, with a love of Shakespeare, decided to be become an actress, making her stage debut in 1949 at the Adelphi Guild Theatre in Macclesfield. or in Deadline Midnight (1961).

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. 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.

In 2005 the UK TVTimes poll voted her as the "Greatest Soap Opera Star of All Time". 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.

Other roles 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.

Her film credits include Scandal (1989) She starred with Patricia Hodge and Lionel Jeffries in the comedy series Rich Tea and Sympathy, She was a keen gardener and after her death was commemorated in the town with a memorial bench at Southport Flower Show, where she was a regular visitor.

She donated her 1955 Qualcast Panther lawnmower to the British Lawnmower Museum in the town, where it is still on display.

Alexander announced her retirement in 2012, two years after her last television appearance. Her acting career lasted for more than 60 years. She celebrated her 90th birthday on 11 October 2016, but was taken ill and died three days later in Southport Hospital.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes1961 Deadline Midnight Mrs. Gibson Episode: "Doggo" ITV Television Playhouse Mrs. Harris Episode: "Different Drum" Top Secret Telephone Operator Episode: "Vendetta" Winning Widows Woman Customer Episode: "Cash for Canada"1962 Emergency Ward 10 Mrs. Nicholls 2 episodes In Search of the Castaways Lady on Ship uncredited Heart to Heart Waitress 1962–1963 Television Club Mrs. Wade 28 episodes 1962–1963 Z Cars Mrs. Cantrell / Amy Ford / Mrs. Hopkins 4 episodes 1962Coronation Street Mrs. Webb 2 episodes 1964–1987 Hilda Ogden 1,614 episodes 1963 First Night Mary Farley Episode: "The Way with Reggie"1964 Mary Barton Mrs. Jones 2 episodes The Comedy Man Costume Lady at Film Shoot uncredited 1988, 19891992–2010 Last of the Summer Wine Auntie Wainwright 168 episodes 1988 Boon Rose Episode: "The Devil You Know" 1989 Scandal Mrs. Keeler 1991 Rich Tea and Sympathy Granny Trellis 6 episodes 1992 The Good Guys Maud Layton Episode: "Her Finest Hour"1993 I, Lovett Elsie Mittens Episode: "Baldy" Cluedo Marjory Hunt Episode: "The Hanged Man" 1995 Harry Irene Paterson 1 episode1997 Adam's Family Tree Winifred Whisper Episode: "Strawberry Fools Forever" The Phoenix and the Carpet Lily 5 episodes 1999 Hooves of Fire (TV short) Mrs. Santa (voice) 2000–2002 Where the Heart Is Kathleen Beresford / Joan Cotter 4 episodes 2001, 2003 Heartbeat Lily Barton 2 episodes 2002 Barbara Queenie Liversidge 2 episodes 2004 The Afternoon Play Enid Episode: "Drive" 2006 To the Sea Again (short film) Annie

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result1985 RTS Award Best Actress