26 Facts About Doris Speed

Doris Speed was an English actress, best known for her role as landlady of the Rovers Return Inn, Annie Walker, on the British television soap opera Coronation Street.

Doris Speed was born in Chorlton, Lancashire on 3 February 1899.

Doris Speed's debut came to her at the age of three years old, as she toddled onstage in a nightdress to sing a song about a golliwog.

Doris Speed was later quoted as saying "Acting was all I ever wanted to do".

Doris Speed took a course in shorthand and typing at a local technical college in 1915, and shortly after finishing it, took a job with Guinness in Manchester to support her parents' stage careers.

Doris Speed joined Guinness as a clerk, but over her 41 years working for the company, rose to become personal assistant to the regional manager.

Doris Speed was in two television plays, The Myth Makers and Vital Statistics, in addition to the 1959 Hammer Studios Stanley Baker vehicle Hell Is a City, set in her native Manchester.

In 1960, while Doris Speed was appearing in the BBC radio serial The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and appearing on stage in Bristol, she was asked to audition for the role of Annie Walker in Tony Warren's new series, Coronation Street.

Doris Speed had written the part specifically for her, having admired her as an actress when he was aged 12 in the late 1940s.

However, Doris Speed turned down two auditions for Coronation Street, as "it seemed such a long way to travel" from Bristol.

Doris Speed was said to have based her performance on her Aunt Bessie, who led the Speed family in Christmas charades and had "a withering look".

Doris Speed was originally on a three-week contract, first appearing in the December 1960 opening episode.

In 1983, the Daily Mirror published a story revealing that Doris Speed was 15 years older than she publicly claimed she was.

Doris Speed made her last appearance as Annie Walker during the 1988 ITV Telethon, looking "frail but happy" behind the bar.

Aged 91, Doris Speed appeared on a 1990 television programme to mark thirty years of Coronation Street.

Doris Speed's final television appearance was an interview given with actor Ken Farrington, who played her on-screen son Billy, in 1993.

Two year later, Doris Speed received a Pye Television Award for Outstanding Contribution to Television.

Doris Speed was an honorary member of the Licensed Victuallers' Association.

Doris Speed lived in Southport for many years, until returning to Manchester to care for her mother after she became ill.

The actress said that Annie Walker "stood for everything I'm not"; Doris Speed disliked pubs, and lacked patience with her character's posturing.

Doris Speed didn't suffer fools but was generous and kind-hearted.

When she was not recording or rehearsing, Doris Speed played bridge with other Coronation Street cast members, and did the crossword in The Guardian.

Doris Speed enjoyed travelling to the theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, as well as the Chichester and Pitlochry festivals.

Doris Speed died during an afternoon nap on 16 November 1994, and was found by a member of staff who had gone to collect her afternoon tea tray.

Doris Speed maintained a close link with the programme and Granada.

Doris Speed is commemorated by two plaques in her native Manchester: one outside Granada Studios, where she filmed most of her work as Annie Walker, and another at 13 Sibson Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, her home for many years.