Deirdre Barlow
Deirdre Barlow (also Hunt, Langton and Rachid) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Anne Kirkbride.Originally named Deirdre Hunt, her character's earliest screen appearances were as "a young 17 year old 'dolly bird', someone that liked a bit of fun".[7] Deirdre's trademarks included a gravelly, scratchy voice (intensifying due to actress Kirkbride's real-life chain smoking) and very big glasses.The large glasses made a comedic reappearance when character Claire Peacock (Julia Haworth), who bore an uncanny resemblance to the young Deirdre, was also to wear the same style of spectacles.After leaving Oldham Rep at the age of 17, Anne Kirkbride featured in a Granada TV play by Jack Rosenthal titled Another Sunday and Sweet F.A.The couple's first marriage eventually disintegrated in the early 1990s, this time when Ken had an affair with colleague Wendy Crozier, a dalliance which ended in divorce for the Barlows.After Deirdre is attacked by a rapist while walking home, she contemplates suicide, standing on the parapet of a motorway bridge and only snaps back to reality when a lorry driver asks her for directions.Sally had been unstable since she had been persuaded by a social worker to put her daughter up for adoption shortly after the birth, and Deirdre later discovers she has taken Tracy, moments before the lorry crashed.After this, Deirdre dates Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs) and attempts to reconcile with Billy, but soon realises that she and Ken Barlow (William Roache) are better suited.Early in her term, Deirdre's workload as a councillor causes tensions with Ken, and their marital woes are compounded by the professional conflicts that arise between them.Wendy is sacked and Ken, feeling responsible, employs her as his secretary and begins an affair with her; which leads to Deirdre starting divorce proceedings in 1990.Deirdre dates plumber Dave Barton (David Beckett) and later conman Phil Jennings (Tommy Boyle), who tricks her into investing in his nightclub.The traumas of the past year and Tracy's wedding to Robert Preston (Julian Kay) leads Deirdre to reunite with Ken in February 1999.The marriage is supposed to coincide with the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker-Bowles, just as Ken and Deirdre's first marriage coincided with Charles and Diana's nuptials, but scheduling conflicts caused by Prince Charles' attendance at the funeral of Pope John Paul II result in one day's discrepancy.Ray attends and a few minutes later, during a conversation with Deirdre's mother Blanche, passes away, while sitting at one of the tables enjoying a drink.Two years later, in early-2007, Deirdre's life is turned upside down once again, after Tracy bludgeons to death her then boyfriend Charlie Stubbs, played by (Bill Ward).After weeks of turmoil at Number 1 Coronation Street, Ken offers Deirdre a shocking ultimatum, announcing that, if she leaves the house, he will be gone by the time she gets back.True to his word, Ken leaves and begins rebuilding a relationship with his estranged son Daniel Osbourne (Dominic Holmes), and his mother Denise.When Peter decides to open a bar with girlfriend, Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson), Ken is so against the idea that he calls a meeting at The Rovers and has an article written in a newspaper which also details Deirdre's relationship with Jon Lindsay and Tracy murdering Charlie.At Blanche's funeral, she is happy to see Tracy and gives an emotional eulogy paying tribute to her mother's unique character.Whilst Ken was away, much changed: Tracy's boyfriend Rob Donovan (Marc Baylis) places a bet on at Peter's bookies which cleans him out and the business shuts down.In October, Deirdre begins to struggle with the stress of the trial, and after Tracy and Carla argue during a meal she has prepared, she loses her temper and throws an unset trifle against the wall.Her family arrange a surprise sixtieth birthday party for her at The Rovers, but Bev arrives at the Barlow house to break the news that Deirdre has died, possibly after suffering a brain aneurysm, caused by her many years of chain smoking.Ken also hears from Bev that Deirdre was planning to return to him a few weeks earlier, but decided to stay longer as she felt humiliated about Tracy's affair with Liz's boyfriend Tony Stewart (Terence Maynard).In March 2017, Ken reveals during an argument with Sinead Tinker (Katie McGlynn) how, although he deeply loved Deirdre, he was never fulfilled in their marriage due to their having such different personalities and expectations from life, such that he felt trapped.