32 Facts About Julie Goodyear

Julie Goodyear is known for portraying Bet Lynch in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street.

Julie Goodyear first appeared as Bet for nine episodes in 1966, before becoming a series regular from 1970 to 1995.

Julie Goodyear returned for eight episodes in 2002 and another seven in 2003.

Julie Goodyear was made an MBE in the 1996 New Year Honours.

Goodyear was born on 29 March 1942 in Heywood, Lancashire, to Alice and George Kemp, who divorced when Goodyear was six years old.

Julie Goodyear's mother remarried to William Goodyear in 1949, whom she knew as her father and whose surname she adopted.

Julie Goodyear was brought up by her maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Duckworth, who died by drowning when Julie Goodyear was thirteen years old.

Julie Goodyear began modelling in the 1960s, predominantly as hand and foot model, which led to her acting debut in 1965, portraying the uncredited role of Charity in the first series of the ITV sitcom Pardon the Expression.

Julie Goodyear is known for playing barmaid Bet Lynch on the ITV1 soap opera Coronation Street.

Julie Goodyear appeared in two episodes of The Dustbinmen between 1969 and 1970, and portrayed Mrs Powner in an episode of A Family At War.

Julie Goodyear returned to Coronation Street in 1970 and remained in the series for 25 years.

Julie Goodyear quit Coronation Street in 1995, shortly after winning the Lifetime Achievement Award for her role as Bet Lynch in the first ever National Television Awards.

Julie Goodyear returned to the role of Bet in 1999 for the home video spin-off The Rover Returns.

In 2002, it was announced that Julie Goodyear would be returning to the show after seven years away.

Julie Goodyear's return was intended to be permanent and she had signed a year's contract, however she was forced to quit after seventeen days due to the intense filming schedule, which had left her suffering from exhaustion.

Julie Goodyear returned to the show again in 2003, though this time, her appearances were part of a storyline set in Blackpool that involved Liz McDonald and her husband Jim, who had recently escaped from prison.

In 2005, Julie Goodyear was one of the celebrities taking part in the ITV reality series, Celebrity Fit Club, alongside former Coronation Street co-star Ken Morley.

Julie Goodyear was originally made team captain but quit the role after six weeks, and the role was taken over by Aldo Zilli.

Julie Goodyear lost 1 stone 10 pounds, and her team won the show.

Julie Goodyear appeared in the reality shows Road Raja, Age Swap, Celebrity Penthouse and Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes as Marlene Dietrich.

In 2012, Julie Goodyear became a housemate on the tenth series of Celebrity Big Brother on Channel 5.

Julie Goodyear was the seventh housemate to be evicted on Day 22 in a double eviction alongside fellow housemate Lorenzo Borghese.

In 2017, Julie Goodyear appeared in the BBC Two documentary Queer as Art.

Julie Goodyear made an appearance on The Big Quiz in 2018 and was interviewed for the television documentary Coronation Street at Christmas in 2019, the latter of which was her final television appearance.

Julie Goodyear's first marriage was to Ray Sutcliffe at the age of 17 when she was two months pregnant with her son Gary, who was born in April 1960.

Julie Goodyear married her fourth husband, Scott Brand, 26 years her junior, in 2007 after eleven years together.

Julie Goodyear is a life-long resident of Heywood, Greater Manchester and lives with her fourth husband at Primrose Hill Farm, a property she purchased and renovated in 1995.

Julie Goodyear's autobiography, titled Just Julie, was released in November 2006.

Julie Goodyear is a patron of Willow Wood Hospice, where her Coronation Street co-star Roy Barraclough died in 2017.

Julie Goodyear donated several pieces of jewellery and memorabilia worn by her character Bet Lynch in order to raise funds for the hospice.

In March 2024, Julie Goodyear's husband said she was "slowly fading away" and that it had been "extremely painful" to watch her deterioration.

Julie Goodyear was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1996 New Year Honours, "for services to television drama".