Liz Dawn

 ( 1939 Births ) 

Dawn made several appearances in the Granada Television daytime series Crown Court. Initially in an un-credited role of a prison officer, in 1975 she played the character of Bedelia Conroy, a public house licensee and witness in a deception trial. She was the subject of a This is Your Life episode in 1989, when she was surprised by Michael Aspel on the set of Coronation Street.

Following a diagnosis of emphysema in March 2004, on 22 July 2007, ITV Granada (makers of Coronation Street) announced that Vera Duckworth was to be written out, at Dawn's request, before Christmas, because of further complications with the condition.

Dawn's final appearance came in the episode screened on 18 January 2008, when Vera Duckworth died in her sleep, thus ending 34 years of the character's appearances in the series. Bill Tarmey, who played on screen husband Jack Duckworth, continued to be a part of the cast of Coronation Street and Dawn stated that the hardest thing about leaving Corrie was saying good-bye to Tarmey, with whom she was best friends. On 8 November 2010, she made a brief one-off return to the soap for the final scenes of her on-screen husband, Jack, who died in the same chair as Vera. Dawn appeared as Vera's spirit, who had come to take Jack on his final journey and the pair enjoyed one final dance together.

She came out of retirement in December 2015 to make a one-off guest appearance in the soap Emmerdale as the character Mrs Winterbottom.

Dawn was appointed an MBE in the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to the Manchester Children's Hospital, the Genesis Appeal and the Liz Dawn Breast Cancer Appeal, St. James's Hospital, Leeds.

Dawn won the British Soap Award for Outstanding Achievement at the 2008 ceremony for her decades-long portrayal of her fictional character Vera Duckworth.

In March 2004, Dawn was diagnosed with emphysema (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – COPD). She attributed the illness to her own smoking habit and performing in smoke-filled clubs. In May 2009, Dawn agreed to become the "Celebrity Ambassador" of the British Lung Foundation (BLF). She also worked to raise awareness of COPD. In June 2009 she spearheaded the campaign "Breathe Easy Week", to raise awareness of the work of the BLF.

In 2013 she revealed her health had deteriorated further after she had a heart attack, and only a third of her lungs were still working. In September 2017 Dawn was admitted to hospital in Manchester with severe breathing problems. Dawn, who had stopped smoking in 2002, had previously said her emphysema had taken such a toll on her that she had nearly collapsed during her appointment as an MBE at Buckingham Palace in 2000.

Dawn died on 25 September 2017, at her home in Whitefield, Greater Manchester, after suffering with COPD for a long time. Her funeral took place at Salford Cathedral on 6 October 2017.