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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 also 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.
The British League for Hilda Ogden was established in 1979 by 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. When she decided to leave the show in 1987, fans started "Save Hilda!" campaigns; however, many were unaware she had made her own decision to depart. Her final scenes in the programme were aired on 25 December 1987, attracting nearly 27 million viewers, the highest number in the show's history.
In 2005 the UK TV Times 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.
Her film credits include Scandal (1989) and Willie's War (1994). Alexander voiced Mrs Santa in the Robbie the Reindeer film Hooves of Fire (1999), and also appeared in Boon and as Lily in the children's series The Phoenix and the Carpet. She starred with Patricia Hodge and Lionel Jeffries in the comedy series Rich Tea and Sympathy, and appeared in the quiz show Cluedo. Later, she appeared in Barbara, Heartbeat, Where the Heart Is and The Afternoon Play.
She lived for many years in Southport, Merseyside, and in 2009 she joined with others to campaign successfully for a temporary library in the town while the central library was being refurbished. 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
1961 Deadline Midnight Mrs. Gibson ITV Television Playhouse: Different Drum 1962–1963 Television Club Mrs. Wade 1962–1963 Z Cars Mrs. Cantrell / Amy Ford / Mrs. Hopkins 1962 Emergency Ward 10 Mrs. Nicholls 1962 Coronation Street Mrs. Webb (2 episodes) 1964–1987 Hilda Ogden (1,614 episodes) 1964 Mary Barton Mrs. Jones (2 episodes) 1988, 1989
1992–2010Last of the Summer Wine Auntie Wainwright (168 episodes) 1991 Rich Tea and Sympathy Granny Trellis 1993–1995 Harry Irene Paterson 1993 I, Lovett Elsie Mittens Cluedo Marjory Hunt 1997 Adam's Family Tree Winifred Whisper The Phoenix and the Carpet Lily 1999 Hooves of Fire (TV short) Mrs. Santa (voice) 2000–2002 Where the Heart Is Kathleen Beresford/ Joan Cotter 2001, 2003 Heartbeat Lily Barton 2002 Barbara Queenie Liversidge 2004 The Afternoon Play: Drive Enid 2006 To the Sean Again (short film) Annie
Awards and nominations
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Categories: 1926 Births, 2016 Deaths, 20th-century English Actresses, 21st-century English Actresses, Actresses From Liverpool, English Soap Opera Actresses, English Autobiographers, English Stage Actresses, English Television Actresses, English Voice Actresses, Actresses From Southport, English Women Autobiographers, People From Toxteth
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