Anne Reid

Anne Reid, MBE  is a BAFTA Award-nominated English film and television actress from Newcastle upon Tyne, best known for her roles as Valerie Tatlock in Coronation Street and Jean in dinnerladies.

Reid's first major acting role was as the character of Valerie Tatlock (later Barlow) on Coronation Street. Reid joined the cast, initially for two months, starting in August 1961 and leaving in October 1961. She returned to the programme to marry Barlow on 1 August 1962 in a wedding watched by 15.8 million viewers. 

Reid returned to TV as one of the ensemble cast in Victoria Wood's As Seen On TV in 1986 and in 1989 featured in two episodes of the comedy series Victoria Wood, Mens Sana In Thingummy Doodah and The Library. From 1998 to 2000, Reid played the major role of Jean in the BBC comedy series dinnerladies by Victoria Wood, and has appeared in other television programmes including The Adventures of Robin Hood (1958), The Benny Hill Show (1957), Hancock's Half Hour, Casualty (1992), Boon (1988), and Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (1996). She also made an appearance in the Doctor Who serial The Curse of Fenric which was broadcast in October 1989.

In 2003, Reid had a part in Midsomer Murders in the episode "A Tale of Two Hamlets", and a main part in the comedy drama The Booze Cruise. She also had a major role in the ITV drama series Life Begins, which ran from 2004 to 2006, in which she appeared alongside Caroline Quentin and Frank Finlay. In October 2005 she had a role in the BBC's adaptation of Bleak House and in 2006 made a brief appearance in Jane Eyre.

On 31 March 2007, Reid appeared for a second time in the series Doctor Who in the episode "Smith and Jones" In the episode she played Florence Finnegan, a blood-sucking alien called a Plasmavore, but took on the guise of a normal human. 

In February 2008 Reid appeared as the mother of Monica Gallagher, Joan, who was suffering from Alzheimer's in the Channel 4 drama Shameless. In October 2008, she played the title role in In Love with Barbara on BBC Four, a biopic of Barbara Cartland.

In 2009, Reid appeared in the television series Marple in the episode "Nemesis". She also starred as Vera alongside Maureen Lipman as Irene in an ITV3 adaptation of the BBC Radio 4 series Ladies of Letters, a series which charts the correspondence of two ladies via a series of letters.

In 2010 she began playing Mrs Thackeray, the cook, in the BBC's revival series of Upstairs, Downstairs, and also appeared in Five Days, New Tricks and Moving On. In 2011 Reid had a major part in Marchlands, a five-part ITV supernatural drama, made a guest appearance in Doc Martin and played a supporting role in The Jury II.

In 1995 Reid was the voice of Wendolene Ramsbottom in the Wallace and Gromit film A Close Shave. Her other film appearances include Love and Death on Long Island (1997) and The Mother (2003), the latter performance secured her a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2003.

In 2002 Reidappeared in the premiere of The York Realist at the Royal Court Theatre, which later transferred to the West End. From September 2005 to January 2006, she appeared on stage in the West End in Epitaph for George Dillon, and in July 2006 starred in School Run, a short series of plays on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour.

In June 2007 she played the role of Jack's mother in Stephen Sondheim's Into The Woods at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

From January to May 2008 she appeared in the National Theatre's production of Happy Now? - a new play by Lucinda Coxon.