Margot Bryant

Kathleen Mary Margaret Bryant (8 March 1897 – 1 January 1988), professionally known as Margot Bryant was an English actress, of stage, television and film best known for playing Minnie Caldwell on the soap opera Coronation Street from its inception in 1960 until her departure in 1976 (episode 1589).

Margot Bryant
Born
Kathleen Mary Margaret Bryant

(1897-03-08)8 March 1897
Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died1 January 1988(1988-01-01) (aged 90)
Heald Green, Greater Manchester, England
Years active1949–1976

Early life and career

Born in Hull, the daughter of general practitioner Dr. William Arthur Bryant and Catherine Lewis, Bryant moved to London with her parents on completing her education. There, she became interested in theatre, and appeared in the chorus lines of various productions before moving on to musical comedies. She danced in Fred Astaire's show Stop Flirting.[1]

Bryant also appeared in a number of films, such as The Cure for Love (1949) and Beat Girl with Oliver Reed in 1960. She also appeared in a West End role, as Lucy in Gay's the Word at the Saville Theatre. Bryant also toured in My Mother Said and later appeared in the show's television production. She also appeared in The Bell Family and in films I Get Myself Arrested and The Large Rope.

Coronation Street

Bryant's most notable role came later in life, playing elderly timid Minnie Caldwell on the soap opera Coronation Street, a role she occupied from 1960 to 1976 over the course of 560 episodes.[2] The character's life tended to revolve around her ginger tom-cat, Bobby. Caldwell was a diminutive figure, with a distracted manner and often appeared drinking milk stout in the snug of the soap's public house, the Rovers Return Inn.

The character, consequently, was a put-upon companion of her two friends, busybody Martha Longhurst (played by Lynne Carol) and the elderly battle-axe Ena Sharples (played by Violet Carson).[3] On the formation of the trio, the show's creator Tony Warren explained, "I noticed that whenever you get tough, old viragos, they've got henchmen. Generally had a talkative one, who could be shouted down, and a silent one, who nodded but was a bit rebellious."[3]

Bryant suffered severe memory loss (amnesia) in March 1976, and was unable to continue in the role; her penultimate episode involved her reading her lines off prompts and on props such as her handbag. Her final episode was broadcast in April 1976, with Minnie leaving the street to live with an old friend, Handel Gartside (played by Harry Markham), in Derbyshire.[1] Her character had died off-screen by 2008, when returning former character Jed Stone (played by Kenneth Cope) was seen visiting Minnie's grave.

Personal life and death

Bryant was a dedicated performer, always insisting on high standards of professionalism and good manners. She was later distressed by her difficulty to learn her lines as her health deteriorated. She also suffered from depression.[1] According to her co-star Betty Driver (who played Betty Turpin), Bryant "was a little tinker", who "swore like a trooper". Driver, who was friends with both Doris Speed (Annie Walker) and Bryant, said that the pair "were at each other's throats all the time. Doris was staunch Labour and Margot was Tory." After Bryant had left Coronation Street and stopped acting, she went to live in a nursing home, where she was "often visited" by Driver and her sister Freda.[4]

In her latter years, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and admitted to Cheadle Royal Hospital, Heald Green, Greater Manchester, where she remained as an in-patient until her death on New Year's Day 1988, two months before her ninety-first birthday.[5] She never married or had children, but had a love of cats.[1] Bryant was close friends with fellow Coronation Street actress Eileen Derbyshire.[2]

Bryant's funeral was held at Manchester Crematorium on 11 January 1988, attended by members of the Coronation Street cast, including Thelma Barlow, Eileen Derbyshire, Julie Goodyear, Barbara Knox and William Roache.[2][6]

References
  1. "Fiery side to Street's simpering cat lover". The Guardian. 5 January 1988.
  2. "Street's farewell to Minnie". Evening Standard. London. 11 January 1988.
  3. Banks-Smith, Nancy (5 February 1988). "Frothy copy tells it all". The Guardian.
  4. Driver, Betty (2000). Betty : the autobiography. Daran Little. London: Granada Media. ISBN 0-233-99780-6. OCLC 43785299.
  5. "Actress dies at 90". The Times. 5 January 1988.
  6. "Fond farewell to Street's Minnie". The Guardian. 12 January 1988.
  • The Daily Telegraph – Obituaries (5 January 1988)
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