Coronation Street star Anne Kirkbride, who is best known for playing Deirdre Barlow, has died aged 60 after a short illness. ITV confirmed the sad news in a statement on Monday, saying: It is with great sadness that David Beckett has confirmed tonight that his beloved wife and Coronation Street actress Anne Kirkbride has passed away peacefully in a Manchester hospital after a short illness. David and the programmes cast and crew are heartbroken and deeply saddened at the loss of Anne who has been a Coronation Street icon for 44 years. Executive Producer Kieran Roberts added: There are no words to describe the sense of grief we feel at Annes passing. We know only too acutely how much Anne meant to the millions of people who watched her create the legendary character of Deirdre Barlow. She will be greatly missed by the Coronation Street team who share happy memories of working with her. We feel blessed and honoured to have known her. Our thoughts are with David and their family. ITV Director of Television Peter Fincham echoed Kierans thoughts, saying: Anne has been a truly loyal servant to Coronation Street since joining the programme in the early 1970s. She created a unique and unforgettable character in Deirdre Barlow and shell be greatly missed on and off screen. Our sincerest condolences to Annes husband David and her family at this very sad time. Coronation Streets creator Tony Warren said: Anne was very easy to love. Her talent over the years made a massive contribution to Coronation Street. And William Roache who played Annes on screen husband Ken Barlow said: I feel Annes loss so personally having worked closely with her for over 40 years. She was such a loving and vibrant person. You always knew she was there because her laugh was never far away. She was an impeccable performer with superb comedy timing and an immense gift for really heightened drama. We had some rows over the years as Ken and Deirdre and it was wonderful to play those scenes opposite her. Coronation Street has lost one of its iconic characters and Anne will be greatly missed. Anne is survived by her husband, David, her brother John, and his family. She was supposed to make her long awaited return to the ITV soap this month but it was revealed just a few days ago that she was considering quitting the role that had made her famous. The actress was originally granted an eight-week break from the show back in September, however, after enjoying some time off she then requested a further three months additional leave while she dealt with personal issues. Anne was previously diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 1993, but following successful treatment returned to the soap within 12 months. Speaking in 2001, Anne revealed the diagnosis brought in its wake a lengthy battle with depression that made her life unbearable over the years that followed. I just wanted to die because you just dont want to go on living feeling like that, she recalled. But youre frightened that if you die you might still feel like that on the other side. Theres no escape. It was worse than the cancer in a way because that was going to be over. I knew it was bad but I knew at the end I was going to get better. But this… was just so frightening. Anne added that her This Is Your Life appearance in 1998 came in the midst of her depression, when she was under the influence of addictive prescription drug Valium. She said: I just didnt know if I was ever going to be better. I just couldnt see a way out of it. I just couldnt believe there could be a cure for what was broken in my head. mailonline
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 21:38:22 +0000