Elsie Tanner Elsie Tanner ( née Grimshaw , previously Tanner and Howard ) was a Coronation Street resident from 1939 to 1973 , and then again from 1976 to 1984 . For nearly all of that time , she lived at No . 11 , first moving in after marrying Arnold Tanner at sixteen and raising her children Linda and Dennis herself after splitting from Arnold . During the war , Elsie had an affair with an American GI , Steve Tanner . Many men came and went from No . 11 during and after this period , but as Elsie was still married to Arnold , she gained a reputation for being a tart . One particular opponent of Elsie was Ena Sharples , the self - appointed moral guardian of the Street , with whom Elsie locked horns on many occasions . Despite her critics , Elsie was fiercely protective of her children , herself and her good name , and gave as good as she got , which over time earned even Ena ' s grudging admiration . As Elsie grew older , and Linda and Dennis moved away , she kept on looking for Mr . Right , but it was mostly married men whom she attracted . An exception to this was Len Fairclough , with whom Elsie shared a special relationship , but although Len asked Elsie to marry him twice , Elsie turned him down as they were more friends than lovers . In 1967 , Elsie married her wartime sweetheart Steve , however Elsie failed to make the adjustment to living in the USA and she left Steve when he provided no support to her and had decided to accept a posting to South America . Three years later , she married her third husband , businessman Alan Howard . Elsie and Alan were together for six years before making a mutual decision to separate , and later divorce , on the grounds of irreconcilable differences . From 1973 to 1976 , Elsie lived in Newcastle with Alan , but she returned to Weatherfield when they separated . She left Coronation Street for good in 1984 to join her old flame Bill Gregory in Portugal . The couple married and ran a bar together in the Algarve , living the high life . After many happy years together , they were both killed in a road accident . Elsie was 81 . Elsie ' s career highlights included working at Miami Modes department store , Sylvia ' s Separates , and supervisor and later machinist at Baldwin ' s Casuals . Her friends in the Street were Dot Greenhalgh , Florrie Lindley , Maggie Clegg , and her lodgers Suzie Birchall , Gail Potter and Marion Willis , for whom she took on a motherly role . Biography . 1923 - 1945 : Good time girl . Elsie Grimshaw was born on 5th March 1923 at 18 Gas Street , Weatherfield , the first child born to Arthur and Alice Grimshaw . By the time Elsie was fifteen , their number had swelled to ten and responsibility for the children was divided between Elsie and Alice , with Elsie looking after the older ones . From the moment her first boyfriend threw her knickers up a tree , Elsie was defined by her love life . At sixteen , she got pregnant by Arnold Tanner , a twenty - year - old rent collector for Mr Wormold . Arnold had been drunk when he had sex with Elsie but although there was never much affection between them , Arnold did right by Elsie and they got married on 4th October 1939 , before the baby was born . After some months living in a caravan , Elsie moved in with Arnold at 11 Coronation Street . Seven days later , Arnold left to enlist , slapping Elsie to the ground when she tried to stop him . Several months after Arnold ' s departure , Elsie gave birth in Annie Walker ' s living room , with Ena Sharples delivering a healthy baby girl . Elsie named her daughter Linda , after movie actress Linda Darnell . Elsie spent the war making service uniforms and having relationships , some more serious than others , with various soldiers , including neighbour Jim Todd , soon developing a close bond with his sister Dot and mother Vi , and helping Vi grieve when Jim was killed in battle a few years later . During the Blitz , her childhood home of 18 Gas Street was bombed and both her parents and eight of her siblings were killed . Elsie ' s six month affair with a Polish soldier led Ena Sharples to write Arnold a letter , and a furious Arnold returned home , beat the man to within an inch of his life , and raped Elsie . Elsie fell pregnant , and went to Vi Todd for an abortion . The procedure did not work , and she decided to keep the child , since he wanted to live so badly . When Vi asked how Elsie knew the baby would be a " he " , Elsie said only a man would cause her this much trouble . She later gave birth to son Dennis . When American soldiers stationed at Burtonwood began to spend time around Weatherfield , Elsie mingled with various men but soon became closest to Steve Tanner . He was the first man she ' d ever been in love with and the first she ' d seen herself as making love to , not just having sex with . When Elsie learned he was due to leave , she raced to the military base for an emotional goodbye . Steve asked Elsie to wait for him , but Elsie was still a married woman and she intended to give her marriage a go when Arnold returned from the seas . Steve wrote a few times , enough for Elsie to hope . Alone again , a mischievous Elsie along with friend Dot began sewing notes asking for gifts into material to be delivered to soldiers . Someone began leaving nylons , cigarettes , alcohol , among other gifts , at Elsie ' s door . After several months he revealed himself as an Italian , named Antonio . They began an affair and she agreed to his request to let soldiers stay at her house when they were on leave , giving her some money for room and board . One of the soldiers , Eddie , was only 19 and had never even kissed a woman . Elsie took him to bed , and months later , she learned of his death , and that he ' d left his possessions to her , because his time with her had been the only time he ' d felt happy . Elsie swore she ' d never forget him . Another time , the Military Police called at No . 11 for Private Robert Riley while he was in bed with Elsie , causing the soldier to make a run for it naked . He was apprehended by Ena Sharples and a coal shovel . All of this activity caused Ena to write to Arnold again , leading to a vicious brawl between Ena and Elsie at the Glad Tidings Mission Hall . When Arnold did return , he was recovering from battle , and he and Elsie reached some sense of peace . He stayed with her for several weeks ; when he left , Elsie was annoyed to realise he ' d taken half the money , but decided at least he hadn ' t taken everything . 1945 - 1963 : Linda and Dennis grow up . When the war was over , Elsie heard nothing more from Arnold and raised Linda and Dennis by herself . In 1955 , she started work with Dot at department store Miami Modes . She tried to guide Linda into following in her footsteps , but all Linda had in common with Elsie was her taste in men . In 1958 , 18 - year - old Linda married Ivan Cheveski , a Polish immigrant , and the couple moved to Warrington . Dennis , meanwhile , had fallen in with a bad crowd and was sent to a borstal for a year for robbing an office in Rosamund Street , much to Elsie ' s shame . Depressed , Elsie went to stay with a cousin in Hartlepool for six months , with No . 11 let to Ethel Myers in the interim . Dennis ' s problems continued in 1960 when he and Jed Stone were caught breaking into Biddulph ' s newsagent and sentenced to six months in prison . On his release , he got a job front of house at the Orinoco Club , where he unexpectedly met absent father Arnold . Arnold took the opportunity to visit Elsie and ask for a divorce so he could marry Norah Dawson . Elsie refused at first but backed down when he threatened to take her to court over her wartime affairs . When in late 1960 Linda announced she was pregnant , the Cheveskis returned to Weatherfield and moved into No . 9 , next door to the Tanners . Elsie became a grandmother at 38 to Paul Cheveski . At first , Linda found Elsie too interfering but the baby ultimately brought Elsie and Linda closer together . The Cheveskis emigrated to Canada in December 1961 , and Elsie was sad to see them go . After unsuccessful relationships with Arthur Dewhurst and Walter Fletcher , Elsie was introduced to Chief Petty Officer Bill Gregory by Alf Roberts at Harry and Concepta Hewitt ' s wedding reception . It was love at first sight for Elsie , and Bill was very keen on her . They had just started an affair when Elsie received a poison pen letter , reminding her that she was not yet divorced as she had forgotten to visit her solicitor . Elsie publicly accused Annie Walker and Ena Sharples of writing it , only to find out later that Norah Dawson was the author . Elsie asked Bill to stay away for the time being . In 1962 , Dennis went to London to help talent agent Lenny Phillips open an office there . Elsie met up with Bill again in July but just as they were rekindling their romance , Ena informed Elsie that Bill was married . When Elsie confronted Bill with this accusation , he admitted lying to her but insisted that he and his wife Phyllis were no longer together . Elsie ordered Bill to sort things out - and the perfect opportunity arose that same day when Phyllis turned up out of the blue . Bill agreed to meet Phyllis , intending to tell her about Elsie , but when the moment came he chickened out and agreed to a reconciliation instead , despite Elsie being within earshot of their conversation . Soon after she met bookie Dave Smith on a night out and he tried to charm his way into her affections , and she went on holiday with him , but she didn ' t want a long - term relationship with Dave and cooled things off . In November , Elsie gave Christine Appleby lodgings at No . 11 . Christine became a surrogate daughter to Elsie , and Elsie took it to heart when someone informed the landlord that she had a lodger , forcing Christine to move out . It transpired that Christine had written the letter herself as she was fed up with people talking about her . Christine also worked with Elsie and Dot at Miami Modes , and was promoted over them when Mrs Dumbarton , Elsie ' s reviled previous boss , left . The power went to Christine ' s head and she nearly fell out with Elsie after criticising her work in front of customers and complaining about her to the manager . They made up when Christine was transferred to another department and left Weatherfield for good . Dennis returned to town soon at around the same time and moved back into No . 11 . 1963 - 1967 : Mr . Wrong . Elsie had a longstanding friendship with Len Fairclough , with some speculating that they were more than friends . Len neglected his wife Nellie and son Stanley for drinking sessions at the Rovers and spent many evenings in Elsie ' s company at No . 11 , and although they set tongues wagging in some corners , Elsie denied there was anything going on . Nellie eventually left Len for Harry Bailey and took Stanley with her . While sorting out his divorce , Len proposed to Elsie , offering to marry her when he got his decree absolute . Elsie was flattered but turned him down , preferring to keep their relationship as it was . In 1964 , Elsie was involved with Laurie Frazer , who got her a job at the Viaduct Sporting Club in the basement of Elliston ' s Raincoat Factory , with Elsie in charge of the roulette table . She convinced Laurie to give Dennis a job too . However , on opening night , Laurie ' s hitherto unmentioned wife turned up , and told Elsie she was just one of Laurie ' s many bits on the side . Elsie felt cheap and threw onto the Street all the gifts Laurie had bought her , dumped him , and returned to her old job at Miami Modes . She briefly took a job posing for art students to pay for Dennis ' hairdressing course and had an affair with art teacher David Graham , who was Dennis ' s age . She was embarrassed when seen with him and finished with him because of the age difference , but an oversensitive David couldn ' t get over her and threatened to kill Elsie with a gun . David eventually ran off without harming anyone . In 1965 , Elsie had a relationship with Norman Lindley , estranged husband of Corner Shop owner Florrie Lindley , a good friend of Elsie ' s . He had given up hope of reconciliation with Florrie but at the last minute Florrie returned to Canada with him in Elsie ' s place . A short time later , Elsie walked out on her job at Modes after a row with her supervisor . Her next place of work was Gamma Garments with Emily Nugent , but by now she was aspiring to loftier heights and got herself sacked at the first opportunity by refusing to work under a supervisor while Emily was away . Tired of authority figures , she applied for a supervisor ' s job at the Laundryer and was immediately taken on . Later in the year , after hearing that the Fox and Hounds pub was popular with rich men , Elsie went there hoping to land herself a fella . She was chatted up by Robert Maxwell , who gave her a lift home . En route , Robert had a heart attack and died at the wheel , crashing the car in the process . In the confusion , Elsie fled the scene and ran to Len . After explaining the situation to him in a state of panic , Elsie admitted that Robert was married and that she feared her name being dragged through the mud . Although she maintained that nothing had happened between them , Elsie couldn ' t account for the time between leaving the Fox and Hounds and the accident , so Len told Elsie to keep him out of it . Elsie was traced as she ' d told the barmaid there that the pub had been recommended to her by Annie Walker . She appeared at the inquest into Robert ' s death and met his wife Moira , who put the blame for her husband ' s death squarely on Elsie . Elsie knew that Robert hated Moira , but realising Moira wanted someone else to blame , she accepted Moira ' s accusation , not expecting to see her again . Elsie kept her head held high and moved on . Jim Mount at least wasn ' t married , but his relationship with Elsie petered out because of his refusal to get serious with her . In 1966 , Elsie took in her father - in - law Wally Tanner and Sheila Birtles , with whom she eventually became good friends . Elsie got Dennis a job at Dave Smith ' s Betting Shop in Rosamund Street , which was fast becoming Wally ' s regular haunt . When Wally lost half his pension gambling , Elsie went to see Arnold and told him in no uncertain terms that he was taking Wally . Arnold obliged , and the now divorced pair parted company for the final time . Having previously had a dalliance with Dave Smith in 1962 , Elsie found him no less keen in 1966 . She turned down his offer to pay off some heavies who were after Dennis in exchange for becoming his mistress . In October , the Cheveskis returned from Canada as their marriage was in crisis due to Linda having an affair . Elsie made sure Linda dumped her lover and returned to Ivan . At around the same time , Elsie was receiving anonymous phone calls insulting her . Hilda Ogden was caught making such a call , but she claimed not to be responsible for the others . The true culprit was revealed when Moira Maxwell let herself into No . 11 and threatened Elsie with a knife . Elsie failed to reason with Moira but fortunately Len entered just in time to grab and disarm Moira . After being sacked from the Laundryer , Elsie returned to Miami Modes as supervisor . In 1967 , she met a strange man , Percy Bridge , who claimed to be the one who pulled Paul out of the canal the previous year . In reality it was Dave Smith who rescued Paul . Dave revealed himself when he found out Percy was getting money out of Elsie in return for his " heroics " , and along with Len , he sorted Percy out . Elsie then warmed to Dave and they started dating . 1967 - 1968 : The return of Steve Tanner . In April Elsie found out that old flame Steve Tanner was back at Burtonwood on a posting . They met up to find out if their old spark was still there but although they enjoyed talking about the past , Elsie decided not to see him again , preferring to leave herself with a nice memory . Steve wasn ' t so willing to give up on a promising relationship and persuaded Elsie to see more of him . Dave was cast aside as Elsie and Steve announced they were a couple . Dave was briefly the prime suspect in an assault on Steve outside the Betting Shop , but it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity ( Walter Greenhalgh had thought Steve was Gregg Flint , who was having an affair with Dot ) . After a short romance , Steve proposed to Elsie in the Roebuck Inn , where they had first met , and Elsie accepted . Elsie knew that marriage to Steve would mean moving to America and leaving everything and everyone she knew . She was worried that she wouldn ' t fit in but Steve was an attentive boyfriend and calmed her fears . They were married in September in a lavish ceremony in Warrington and temporarily moved to Burtonwood , leaving just Dennis at No . 11 . Elsie found it difficult to adjust to not working and meeting Steve ' s mother Emmeline Tanner , who took an instant dislike to her , thinking she wasn ' t good enough for Steve . Elsie wanted to return to her old job and applied , but Steve went behind her back and cancelled it . Further embittered to find out Steve had asked for a transfer to Germany without telling her , Elsie went to stay with Linda and Ivan for a while . The cracks in Elsie and Steve ' s marriage were already showing but when Steve was transferred back to the States , Elsie agreed to go , aware that it would make or break their marriage . The Tanners left for the USA in the new year . Elsie made a low - key return to Weatherfield and No . 11 in February 1968 , telling the neighbours she was over for a visit while Steve was in Panama , but otherwise keeping out of sight . After a few weeks , Len barged into No . 11 , finding it a pigsty and Elsie having let herself go . Elsie broke down and admitted to Len that her marriage had failed because Steve was a swine ; she ' d been isolated in America and Steve had ignored her . He ' d volunteered for the Panama posting and had asked Elsie not to go with him , being sorry that they ' d met again . Elsie then started putting her life together again . Dennis left Weatherfield in June after marrying Jenny Sutton . Dennis ' s parting gift was Elsie ' s nephew Gary Bailey , who turned up at No . 11 on the newlywed ' s instructions to keep her company . Elsie loaned Gary £200 which he used to buy her a white jaguar , even though she couldn ' t drive . She made a go of it by taking driving lessons but gave them up after crashing into the back of Ken Barlow ' s vehicle . Dave Smith also returned to the scene , taking Elsie on as manageress of florist The Pink Posy and romancing her once again . Steve wanted to know where he stood with Elsie and came to the UK to chase her up , hoping they could attempt a reconciliation . Elsie was on her way to tell Steve a final " no " when the police informed her that Steve had been murdered . Elsie was a suspect along with Len , and Steve ' s friends Gary Strauss and Joe Donelli over a matter of gambling debts . The murder case was left unsolved until 1970 when Joe Donelli confessed to the murder and shot himself . 1969 - 1973 : New life and third marriage . Elsie ' s relationship with Dave often left her in a difficult position , especially when he hounded Minnie Caldwell to pay off gambling debts . When she found out Dave had a secret wife , Elsie dumped him . In 1969 , Elsie walked out of her job at the florists and Dot got her back into Miami Modes . She had no sooner started in the job when she was caught finding dresses stolen by Dot and blamed for the theft . Elsie didn ' t find out the truth until Dot blurted it out to her just before the court case and brazenly asked her to keep her out of it . Elsie appeared in court and the case was dismissed , but Elsie and Dot both lost their jobs at Modes . Elsie then told Dot their friendship was over . While she looked for a new job , Elsie had her niece Sandra Butler and nephew Bernard Butler live with her for a while . Businessman Alan Howard bought over the floirists and turned it into a salon . Aware that Elsie had managed the shop efficiently in its previous incarnation , Alan asked Elsie to run the salon , but Elsie knew he was mainly interested in getting together with her even though she wasn ' t interested . She took the job anyway , and eventually agreed to a date with Alan . As the 1960s gave way to the 1970s , an old face returned to Elsie ' s life in the form of Bill Gregory . Bill told Elsie right away that his wife Phyllis was dead and that he had come to Weatherfield for one reason only - to ask her to marry him . Bill had competition from Alan Howard , who wanted to buy Elsie a house and live with her . Having already had her heart broken by Bill twice , Elsie dropped him and went with Alan , but their happiness was short - lived as Alan ' s refusal to marry Elsie caused Elsie to terminate their relationship . With Alan about to walk out of her life , Elsie admitted that she did love him . He proposed and she accepted . A quiet wedding followed at the registry office just a few days later , with Len Fairclough and Bet Lynch acting as witnesses . As this was her third marriage Elsie didn ' t want a fuss made by the neighbours but she was delighted when they threw an impromptu reception at the Rovers afterwards . The Howards had their eye on a detached house , but Alan was fraught with financial difficulties and was being threatened with a lawsuit if he didn ' t pay his creditors . He managed to escape being petitioned for bankruptcy , and after selling his business properties he got a job as a lowly mechanic at the Canal Garage , while Elsie took a job selling cosmetics door to door . In October , Elsie met Alan ' s son Mark , who caused a stir in the Street , being liked by everyone except Elsie and Lucille Hewitt . When Mark tried to drive a wedge between Elsie and Alan , Alan stood by Elsie and sent Mark packing . In 1971 , Elsie became supervisor at the new Mark Brittain Warehouse . The Howards ' financial situation improved as Alan became manager of the Canal Garage . It was there that Alan became closer to Janet Reid , a customer and former girlfriend of Len ' s . Janet wanted an affair with Alan , and although nothing serious happened between them , Alan was drawn to Janet . Elsie found out from Betty Turpin that Alan and Janet were together in Leeds , where Alan had gone on a business trip . Elsie got the truth out of Alan that Janet had followed him to Leeds but that things had gone no further than a kiss . Janet broke down when Elsie confronted her , and admitted she just wanted a man . Realising Janet was vulnerable , Elsie went easy on her but made sure she was put off bothering Alan further . In 1972 , Alan bought the garage from Billy Walker and also went into partnership with Jimmy Frazer , selling used cars , against Elsie ' s wishes . Alan thought he could handle both businesses but the work and stress soon got to him and he started drinking . When Elsie found him passed out drunk in the back room of No . 11 having nearly started a fire , she was furious and made him realise he was becoming dependent on drink . He stayed sober and dropped out of the used cars business . Later in 1973 , Elsie learned that Dennis was in prison , and left Weatherfield to visit him , telling Alan that she was visiting Sheila Crossley as she was too ashamed to admit the truth . By now , Dennis and Jenny had separated . While in London , Elsie was knocked down by a taxi and lay unconscious for a time in a London hospital . Her disappearance became a talking point in Coronation Street and by the time her identity was discovered , Alan had found out she ' d lied about her whereabouts and suspected her of having an affair with her old boss Dennis Maxwell , not realising that the Dennis who ' d identified her was her son . On their return to Weatherfield , the couple faced down the gossips together . A few months later , Elsie took a job in Newcastle and the Howards moved there , renting No . 11 to Ken Barlow . 1976 - 1979 : Back to Weatherfield . Elsie made a surprise return to Coronation Street in 1976 , newly separated from Alan . She quickly moved back into No . 11 and took a job as manager of dress shop Sylvia ' s Separates , taking on Gail Potter as assistant , eventually letting Gail live at her house . She harboured hopes of a reconciliation with Alan but for the moment she was going to make the most of her return home . Gail became embroiled in a messy divorce case when she got involved with Roy Thornley , who she didn ' t know was married . Roy ' s wife sued him for divorce , citing Gail , but he ditched Gail for Sylvia , owner of Elsie ' s shop , and Sylvia was forced to sell to Mike Baldwin . Mike sacked Elsie as he thought she was too old but felt guilty about it and gave her the job of sewing room supervisor at his new denim factory Baldwin ' s Casuals in Coronation Street . Her staff took an instant dislike to her as she didn ' t put up with any nonsense or skiving . In 1977 , Elsie let Gail ' s best friend Suzie Birchall move into No . 11 . Suzie was desperate for somewhere to live and tried to worm her way into Elsie ' s affections . Elsie was happy to let the girls stay but had strict rules that they weren ' t allowed to let boyfriends stay . Now 54 , Elsie struggled to keep glamour in her life . She started seeing Ted Brownlow after meeting him at Len and Rita Fairclough ' s wedding reception but he was put off her when he heard she had been married three times and wasn ' t yet divorced . He got back together with her when he saw her picture in the newspaper for a Glamorous Grannie competition that Gail and Suzie had entered her in without her knowledge . In May , Elaine Dennett visited Elsie to ask her to give Alan a divorce so that she could marry him . As Elaine was young , Elsie assumed Alan had used his marriage to stop Elaine getting ideas , and when she visited Alan in Newcastle while there trying to attract clients for the factory , they got on very well and seemed on the verge of reconciling . It was then heart - wrenching for Elsie to receive a letter from Alan telling her that he wanted a divorce . The divorce came through in March 1978 and she wept over it , expecting a lonely future . She bounced back by going out to a bar , dressed to the nines , where she was chatted up by Bernard Lane , but she became confused when he asked her to go to a hotel with him , having mistaken her for a prostitute . Elsie sunk to a new low , feeling that she ' d lost even her self - respect . After having a breakdown in front of Mike Baldwin , Elsie went to stay with Linda in Birmingham for a while . She returned in June and announced that she was henceforth be known as Elsie Tanner . Elsie soon started seeing Ron Mather , a taxi driver with a passion for dancing . At first she thought he was seeing another woman , and was confronted by the supposed partner , only to realise she was only his dancing partner . In 1979 , Ron took a job as a chauffeur in Torquay and Elsie declined the chance to go with him , but he returned a few months later and gave her the same offer again , with a job promised to her in Torquay , and this time she said yes . Gail had already moved out of No . 11 and married Brian Tilsley , and when Suzie tried to put buyers off No . 11 , Elsie returned and kicked her out . She was all set for a new life with Ron when she found out that he knew that their boss had fancied her and that he ' d tried to grope her but had turned a blind eye . Elsie cancelled the sale of No . 11 and moved back in . 1980 - 1983 : Final years at No . 11 . 1980 was a struggle for Elsie money - wise as she ' d quit her job as supervisor at Baldwin ' s Casuals . Early in the year , she took a job at Jim ' s Cafe with Gail . To make more money she took in lorry driver Dan Johnson , but he two - timed her with Bet Lynch and Elsie threw his things into the street . Grandson Martin Cheveski came to stay with Elsie after falling out with his parents . He stayed for a while and worked at the Builder ' s Yard with Len , but he was most interested in his girlfriend Karen Oldfield , and although Elsie could see the mistakes he was making in the relationship he never listened to her advice . After Christmas Martin proposed to Karen but as Elsie suspected it doomed the relationship as Karen realised they were moving too fast . Martin decided there was nothing left for him in Weatherfield and he left on New Year ' s Eve , leaving Elsie to face another new year alone . In 1981 , Elsie met Wally Randle in the cafe , and struck up a friendship . She eventually took him in as a lodger and expected him to make the next move but he wasn ' t interested in a relationship at all , considering Elsie to be too old for him . He moved because of the misunderstanding and Elsie broke down as she had fallen in love with him . Elsie found it difficult to face the world after that but went on a night out with Bet to cheer herself up and picked up sleazy Bill Fielding . She got very drunk and took him home with her . The next morning she tried to get rid of him , ashamed of herself , but he insisted of having breakfast after Elsie had gone to work . While she was away Bill ' s wife tracked him down and thinking Elsie was a common tart like the other women Bill had played away with , cut up all of Elsie ' s clothes and wrecked her house . Elsie refused to tell the police but the insurance company wouldn ' t pay out unless she did . She also lost her job after taking too much time off . Depressed , she went to visit Linda in Birmingham . When Elsie returned she took a job as a lowly machinist at Baldwin ' s , a comedown . While attending a business dinner with Mike and some of his friends , she met Wilf Stockwell , who was keen on her and soon made her his mistress , deciding to leave his wife , Dot , but she finished with him as she didn ' t want to make a big commitment . Later in 1982 , Elsie took in Marion Willis , fiancée of Eddie Yeats . She almost ruined their relationship when her boyfriend Geoff Siddall , who turned out to be a conman , stole all of Eddie ' s savings after convincing him to invest in a fictitious company . In 1983 , Suzie Birchall came back to Weatherfield and Elsie happily let her move in . She turned out to be fleeing from an abusive husband , who turned up at No . 11 until Elsie and the neighbours saw him off . However , when Suzie made a pass at Gail ' s husband Brian and offered to sleep with him , and he turned her down , Elsie told Suzie to leave her house . 1983 - 2000s : Departure , life in Portugal and death . In late 1983 , Elsie resigned from Baldwin ' s Casuals after being passed over for the supervisor ' s job for a second time and took a job as a barmaid at the Tropicana . She was stunned when Bill Gregory arrived on the Street yet again and confessed that he was still in love with her . He offered her the chance to be his wife and run the wine bar he owned in Portugal . After much agonising and thought , she decided to leave Coronation Street to be with Bill . On the night she left , Elsie walked down the Street and memories from the past filled her head ; squabbles with Annie and Ena , yelling at Dennis . While clutching photographs of Linda and Dennis , she smiled knowing that her life in Coronation Street had left her with no regrets . As she got into the taxi that was to take her to the train station , the driver asked her if she was to be away for long . Giving him a knowing smile , Elsie replied : " Ah ! Now there ' s a question ! " . The taxi then drove off into the night . While settling in Portugal , Elsie sent Linda up to Weatherfield to deal with the sale of the house . She married Bill before the year was out and they enjoyed a happy life together . Even Dennis , who had all but ignored Elsie since 1968 , was a frequent visitor at the Gregory home after reconciling with Elsie . By 2005 , Elsie and Bill were found dead inside their red sports car at the bottom of a cliff . When relating the story to Rita Sullivan , Dennis said that they were rumoured to still be holding hands . Rita was amused that Elsie died in the arms of her fella in a manner that was just as dramatic and tempestuous as the life she had led , and remarked : " I think she would have liked that " . Personality . Elsie was highly spirited and self - assured , with a temper to match her flame - coloured hair . Like many women of her generation , Elsie had responsibility thrust upon her at a young age , sharing the responsibilities and duties of her siblings ' care with her mother . She was therefore well prepared for the practicalities of motherhood and running her own home , learning to be dynamic and vigorous . However , she was also an attractive young woman , for whom lads were queuing up to walk home from work every day , and Elsie was only too happy to encourage their attentions . Upon arriving in Coronation Street , Elsie was sixteen , married , pregnant and impressionable . She was Arnold Tanner ' s bride - though she would later wonder how she ended up with a " nothing " like him . Once Arnold had left the scene , Elsie decided to enjoy her war . She ' d been seduced by the Hollywood film scene and fantasised about American film stars , attracted by their glamour and glitz . She knew her way around men but from the beginning she set out to avoid affairs in favour of loving , committed relationships , looking for a man who would look after her . This approach of leading with her heart led to much hurt for Elsie as experience soon taught her that honesty was foreign to a lot of men , many of whom just saw her as a cheap thrill . As the years passed , Elsie became more jaded on the subject of " fellas " , but although she often dispensed pearls of wisdom to the younger women of the Street , she remained a romantic at heart and often went against her own advice . The end of each relationship - and marriage - was a bigger knock to the ageing sexpot than the last , but Elsie was also a fighter , and kept her vulnerable side hidden behind closed doors . Another key aspect of Elsie was her contentiousness . From the onset of her years in Coronation Street , Elsie was known for her tempestuous love life , including the fact that the " scandalous " goings - on at 11 Coronation Street involved a married women , who was more interested in her love life than her two young children . Even after Linda and Dennis had grown up , Elsie ' s relationships with Bill Gregory and Len Fairclough were scrutinised by the neighbours . However , Elsie was never afraid to face her critics , and was always up for a good argument . Usually she would respond to a slant by becoming defensive - proud of the fact that everything she had , she ' d fought for - but when her opponent really hit a nerve , she would seethe with anger while they said their peace before responding with choice remarks of her own , or sometimes even physical violence . Elsie was also hardworking , and seemed to find something to enjoy in any job , even taking her position as a lowly machinist at Baldwin ' s Casuals having previously worked there as staff supervisor in good humour . However , she almost never had a good thing to say about her boss , wherever she worked , and preferred management roles ( according to Mike Baldwin , Elsie ' s skill as supervisor was in being able to bluff that she could do the job ) . For the most part , Elsie was a warm , friendly presence , and didn ' t take things seriously if she could help it . Traits . Elsie was a lifelong smoker . Her usual at the Rovers was a gin and tonic . Relationships . Family . From her arrival in Coronation Street , Elsie didn ' t have much to do with her biological family , the Grimshaws , although she provided lodgings to her nephew Gary Bailey in 1968 and her sister Fay ' s children Bernard and Sandra from 1969 to 1970 . Elsie and her children Linda and Dennis were close but they usually argued when they were together . She got on best with Linda . Like Elsie , Linda had married young and was often hotheaded , but unlike her mother Linda had married someone who genuinely loved her , and sometimes Elsie had to remind Linda how lucky she was . When Linda left Ivan in 1960 , Elsie encouraged the pair to reconcile and brought Ivan to No . 11 so that Linda would have to face him . Once Linda and Ivan moved to Birmingham , her home often provided an escape for Elsie when life in Weatherfield became too much for her . Her only grandchildren were Linda ' s sons Paul and Martin , with the latter staying at No . 11 with Elsie for a short period in 1980 . Then there was Dennis . The younger of Elsie ' s children , Dennis spent the years after school getting into mischief and mixing with troublemakers , and spent six months in prison . Elsie nagged him to get himself a proper job , and at the end of 1960 , he finally did - front of house at the Orinoco Club . Dennis spent the next few years making a name for himself in the world of showbusiness , although for most of that period he was somebody ' s dogsbody and was often tasked with looking after acts , which he ' d do at No . 11 . Elsie found her house taken over by striptease artist Eunice Bond , her seven - foot python , and on another occasion a monkey in her sink . Dennis would always laugh off Elsie ' s objections , although she made sure she got her way in the end . Though Dennis remained reckless and irresponsible , and often thoughtless , he was driven in his new career and Elsie respected his choices . For all their arguments , they had a close relationship ; after Linda moved away , Dennis was Elsie ' s only permanent living companion and mother and son shared a jovial camaraderie . Dennis was a less regular part of Elsie ' s life after he married Jenny Sutton and moved to Bristol in 1968 , and she was deeply ashamed to learn in 1973 that he had been put in prison for conning old people in a double glazing scheme . She rarely heard from Dennis after this incident , although after moving to Portugal with Bill Gregory in 1984 and marrying him , Dennis began visiting again regularly until her death . Len Fairclough . Len Fairclough was , if not Elsie ' s best friend , then the person who best understood her . Len had a crush on Elsie in school but they never got together , despite their obvious affection for each other . By the 1960s , Len was an uncommitted husband and father , who put his independence and pleasures before his " nag " of a wife Nellie . In 1962 , he and Elsie set tongues wagging when Len started spending time more time at No . 11 than at work , resulting in his sacking from Birtwistles and Nellie leaving him , thinking he and Elsie were having a secret affair . She did return , but later in the year they parted company for good and got a divorce . Now a single man , Len was free to pursue Elsie and they went on a few dates , but she frequently rebuffed his attempts to start a proper relationship . In 1963 , Len popped the question . Elsie took a while to give him an answer as she considered their marriage from every angle - the effect on Dennis , how he ' d treated Nellie - but it was the value of their existing platonic relationship that resulted in Elsie giving Len a " no " answer . For Elsie , Len was a good laugh , but not husband material . The following year , when Nellie died , Len asked Elsie to marry him and be a mother to Stanley . To prove that a relationship wouldn ' t work , Elsie suggested a trial marriage . Len went along with it , but Elsie was proved right as they clashed over distribution of chores ( Len thought it was a wife ' s job ) , and Len arranged for Harry Bailey , Nellie ' s husband , to have Stanley , and for the most part gave up his attempts to start a relationship with Elsie . Their relationship subsequently was one of close friendship , with an underlying tension . Elsie was fond of Len , and in times of crisis , he was the one she turned to . On the other hand , Len adored Elsie and would always help her , but he hated being her shoulder to cry on and resented the fact that she depended on him while keeping him at arm ' s length . In 1969 , Len started seeing Janet Reid and decided to ask her to marry him . When he was rebuffed by Janet , Len thought Elsie had influenced her out of jealousy . Elsie was distressed when Len hit her , and went away from the Street for a while . After that , Len was more accepting that he and Elsie would never be more than friends . During Len ' s marriage to Rita Littlewood , Len and Elsie continued flirting , much to Rita ' s chagrin . They were friends until Len ' s death in 1983 . Ena Sharples . Ena Sharples was caretaker at the Glad Tidings Mission Hall and a generation older than Elsie . Self - proclaimed moral guardian of Coronation Street , Ena ' s and Elsie ' s views were poles apart and they argued from the moment they met . Ena was the fiercest critic of Elsie boyfriends and affairs ; to Ena , marriage was for life , and she remained faithful to her late husband Alfred from his death in 1937 for the rest of her life . The pair had a longstanding feud , which was brought to the fore whenever Ena gossiped about Elsie . In the snug of the Rovers Return , Ena and her cronies Minnie Caldwell and Martha Longhurst spent many hours criticising the neighbours , and Elsie was a favourite topic . Their two major spats were in 1961 and 1965 - the first , when Elsie accused Ena of writing her a poison pen letter , with the pair facing each other down in front of the neighbours , and the second when Ena tried to evict the Tanners from No . 11 after being left the house in a will while her home in the Mission vestry was under threat of demolition . Elsie tried to put Ena off the house by having Len make it look like it was badly in need of repair and not suitable to be lived in . Ena wasn ' t fooled and rowed with Elsie in the Street , smashing the window of the front room of No . 11 with her handbag in a moment of rage before being told by Leonard Swindley that the Mission wasn ' t closing . Ena then made arrangements to sell the house , deciding it was more trouble than it was worth . Although Ena disapproved of the way Elsie conducted herself , she didn ' t have a blanket dislike of her . She admired Elsie ' s virility and guts , and if she thought Elsie had been wronged , she would take her side . Ena was midwife when Elsie gave birth to Linda , and Ena hid Steve Tanner and his friend Oliver Hart in the Mission when they went AWOL to say goodbye to Elsie and Sally Todd . On the downside , Ena wrote a letter to Arnold about Elsie ' s affairs with soldiers , leading him to return home and rape Elsie ( resulting in Dennis ' conception ) . In the 1970s , as Ena grew older , she mellowed towards Elsie . They were never friends , but Elsie saw Ena as less of a nuisance and was more willing to listen to her advice , for example on who to pick out of a choice of Bill Gregory and Alan Howard , in 1970 . The friendship and respect for each other was apparent as ever come 1980 when Ena was made temporarily homeless to allow for renovations to take place at the Community Centre ( she lived in the adjoining caretaker ' s flat ) . Elsie offered Ena a roof over her head , and the two women lived together in the same house in peace and harmony : Ena was grateful for Elsie ' s offer of shelter and Elsie was grateful to be looked after via Ena ' s cooking . However , learning from hindsight , Ena stayed for only a few days before leaving the street for good - " a few days in the same house " , said Ena to Elsie in the Rovers , " is alright , but after that , we ' re just cat and dog . " " Or , man and wife , eh , Mrs . Sharples ? " , replied Elsie . " Well , why not , you ' ve had plenty of practice at it ! " , teased Ena , in reference to the frequent clashes between the pair in the 1960s . Elsie , far from chagrining , took Ena ' s biting remark with good humour . Gail and Suzie . Elsie ' s two lodgers in the late 1970s were Gail Potter and Suzie Birchall . Gail moved in when Elsie returned to No . 11 following her return from Weatherfield in 1976 , as Elsie felt sorry for Gail when she was evicted from the Corner Shop flat by Renee Bradshaw . They also worked together at Sylvia ' s Separates clothing store . Gail was young and naive , sometimes causing Elsie to adopt a motherly role ; she was against Gail ' s affair with Roy Thornley , but when Gail stubbornly refused to believe that Roy was married , Elsie made sure that Gail accidentally found out , and fought her corner when Doreen Thornley decided to divorce Roy , citing Gail . Elsie thought one lodger was enough but in 1977 Suzie Birchall wormed her way into sharing a room with Gail by going on a charm offensive and wearing Elsie down until she agreed to make her temporary stay a permanent one . Elsie enjoyed having them for the most part but she frequently had to kick them into gear , as they were more interested in boys than work . In 1979 , Suzie dated 52 - year - old Paul Stringer , and when Elsie found the pair in her house she made him uncomfortable so that he would leave . Suzie knew Elsie ' s history and thought she was a hypocrite . When Suzie tried to seduce Gail ' s husband Brian Tilsley in 1983 , Elsie threw Suzie out , telling her she didn ' t understand her after all . Elsie and Gail maintained a close friendship after Gail moved out in 1979 . In 1981 , Elsie agreed to be Nick Tilsley ' s godmother . Hilda Ogden . Elsie ' s next - door neighbour from 1964 onwards , Hilda Ogden lived for gossip , and where Elsie Tanner was concerned there was usually plenty to gossip about . Elsie could easily cut Hilda down to size with a quip , and as such she did not usually take her seriously , considering her an irritant ( mostly to the ear drums ) and a loony . Their biggest spat occurred in 1978 when Elsie found a nest of pigeons in her loft which had got through a gap from a missing slate in Hilda ' s roof . While moving about in the loft , Suzie Birchall accidentally put her foot through No . 13 ' s bedroom ceiling , and when Elsie refused to pay for the damage , Hilda poked holes in Elsie ' s ceiling with her broom . A war soon erupted between Elsie and the Ogdens , with Hilda playing blaring music through to No . 13 until Elsie agreed to pay for the repairs to both ceilings . The dispute went to court and they were ordered to pay for their own repairs . Hilda was later responsible for alerting the neighbours to a fire at No . 11 when she popped in to borrow a cup of sugar and found the sofa alight , Elsie having fallen asleep with her cigarette still alight . Elsie had convulsions when she found out who she had to thank for saving her . First and last lines . " Come on , Dennis Tanner , where is it ? " " Ah , now there ' s a question ! " Background information . Creation and casting . Tony Warren drew on figures from his past for inspiration when creating Elsie . In the 1985 TV special " Coronation Street : The First Twenty Five Years " , Warren described the character ' s creation : " Originally , Elsie Tanner was a very glamorous figure from my childhood , whose house was known during the war as The League of Nations . . . A char I had in London when I was just a teenage actor and there was a lot of her , she was the one who said ' They called us good time girls and we were , we had a bloody good time ' . " In Sean Egan ' s " " , Derek Granger asserts that Elsie was " absolutely " based on Warren ' s aunt Lily , from whom Elsie ' s most famous line , ' You ' re just about ready for the knacker ' s yard ' originated . The character brief called for an actress in her mid - 40s with ' tit and glitter ' ( Egan p23 ) . Patricia Phoenix was 36 and from Manchester . She had appeared in a few films but her background was mostly in repertory theatre . When she auditioned for Elsie in August 1960 , she had been unemployed for a year and was on the verge of giving up acting . She was initially reluctant about taking on the role as it had taken her so long to lose her native accent while working in London . In her autobiography , Phoenix says about the audition : " They gave me a script folded over and asked me to read . . . We were not used to television dialogue that sounded like real people in those days . Ladies on television then were " awfully naice " and had nicely rounded vowels to match . I could see if there was anything rounded about Elsie Tanner , it wasn ' t her vowels . After I had read for them , the blond youth asked me if I would mind standing up and removing my coat . " Cheeky young devil , " I thought . " No , " I said flatly . " You ' ll just have to guess at it , won ' t you ? " Although she was the wrong age for the character , Warren was sold on her immediately : " Suddenly she started with the opening line and I heard it in my ears exactly as I heard it in my head when I was writing it , and I gave her the next line and the next . . . it was like sex . I ' d found my actress " " ( The Unforgettable Pat Phoenix ) " . Script editor H . V . Kershaw felt similarly : " There was really no point in asking anyone else to bother " " ( Coronation Street : 25 Years , Jack Tinker , 1985 ) " . Elsie appeared in both dry runs and was first seen in Episode 1 . To account for Phoenix ' s age , Elsie was aged down and Phoenix initially wore body padding to make her appear older . About the initial run of episodes scripted by Warren , Phoenix remarked in " 25 Years " : " I remember thinking how I wished they could be seen beyond the Granada region . They were so original , so funny , so alive . They were the best thing I ' d ever been asked to do . " Elsie emerged as one of the stars of " Coronation Street " , and Phoenix with her . Warren was not surprised , as he recalls in " Life in the Street " ( Graeme Kay , 1991 ) : " Pat had tatted around in rep and on tour for years and what she brought to the show was something not really seen much on television in those days - great star quality . When she came on it seemed as though they ' d turned the lights up a little more brightly . " About her star status , Phoenix : " Strangely enough I ' ve never believed in the star system . Either you ' re a good actress and people will pay to see you or you ' re not . I ' ve always looked on myself as a working actress . I can say that with some confidence too . I always say that if you can play a big dramatic scene with your suspender belt round your ankles and not get a laugh - then you ' re an actress ! " ( " 25 Years " , p113 ) . Development . Elsie ' s first big storyline - her affair with Bill Gregory and row with Ena Sharples over a poison pen letter - was devised by producer Derek Granger who felt the programme ' s stories to date had been too low - key : " It ' s got to have a bit more sex and drugs and rock ' n ' roll . One of the things one did was develop hugely the character of Elsie Tanner . Nobody had done this before , but we really had Elsie having love affairs . I remember one famous episode when she ' s almost caught in flagrante delicto in a telephone box with a sailor . We were doing things like that . " " ( Egan , p65 ) . " The " 25 Years " tie - in book gives further insight into Phoenix ' s own view of the character : " I suppose Elsie ' s secret was that she was tough but unobtainable , plus the fact that her heart was bigger than her brain . I think Tony Warren was a genius to have brought a woman like that into the Street . When she used to shout at Dennis in those marvellous spats we had , everyone watching would know that it was the only way she could show her motherly feelings . She didn ' t know any other way . " About Elsie as a mother : " Actually Elsie was a rotten mother . A stupid mother . And I suppose she was the very first of the anti - heroines , for she was certainly no better than she should be . But she had a big , warm heart . She had all the qualities to take her out of that Street and far away , but somehow she always missed the boat . " In 1967 , Elsie reunited with her wartime sweetheart Steve Tanner and a lavish wedding followed . The wedding episodes were heavily publicised , including a 32 - page souvenir published by " TV Times " . Phoenix hired her own dressmaker and set up a meeting between a man from H Samuels jewellers and producer Jack Rosenthal to choose a ring , much to Rosenthal ' s bemusement ( the rings were supplied by the props department as usual ) . The wedding episodes were the most - watched of the year . Rosenthal later admitted he wasn ' t a fan of the storyline : " I never liked the story . I never liked the idea of the romance with the American . Those days had been and gone with Elsie Tanner , before the programme even began . Twenty years before . " ( " The Coronation Street Story " , Daran Little , 1995 ) . Elsie and Steve emigrated to the USA only for Elsie to return with her tail between her legs early in 1968 . Originally the plan was for Elsie to return to her old life without fanfare but writer Stan Barstow disliked this idea : " I just thought that was awful ' cos I knew people who watched the programme who wanted more from it than that . We spun that one out , or got somebode else to spin it . " ( Egan , p103 ) Adele Rose wrote Episode 753 where , after weeks of hiding away from the neighbours in No . 11 , Elsie opened up to Len about the failure of her marriage in a fifteen - minute two - hander scene . Rose : " It was a huge challenge . It was wonderful to be able to really explore those characters in depth . In those days the scenes were much longer , but to have a whole half - episode was a real treat . " In 1968 , Philip Lowrie quit his role as Dennis Tanner and left the series . Phoenix was sorry to see him go , remarking in " 25 Years " : " I never stopped missing him on the set . We were a very good screen partnership and always remained good pals . " Some sources , including Egan ' s " 50 Years " , reveal that Phoenix was so angry with Lowrie that she didn ' t speak to him between his resignation and departure ( according to the same source , she went two years without speaking to William Roache after an argument about her scene - hogging ) . The following year , writers wanted to marry off Elsie for a third time and while Phoenix was against the idea in principle , she agreed when producers offered to let her choose the actor . Phoenix chose Alan Browning for the role - a man she went on to marry in 1972 . On Browning ' s casting , Phoenix says in p97 of " 35 Years " : " It was , I promise , a purely professional decision on my part although I must confess it idly crossed my mind that he was an attractive man whenever I watched him on television . . . But selecting him for my screen boyfriend was not a romantic affair . It was simply that I admired the man ' s acting tremendously . " Before taking over as producer in 1976 , Bill Podmore was an occasional director on the serial . In his 1990 autobiography , Podmore spoke about the difficulties of working with Phoenix in the early 1970s : " She had concluded that Elsie Tanner , sexpot of the sixties and self - styled Queen of the Soaps , had been reduced by the writers to a worn - out old has - been waiting for her bus pass and pension . . . Pat longed for a return to the original abrasive and gutsy Elsie , whose plump and bosomy Italian - style sex - symbol figure was so fashionable in the early sixties . Unfortunately , since then Pat had done little to help herself . By this time , she had completely glamorised herself out of the original Elsie mould , and was so busy blaming the scriptwriters she failed even to suspect that she might be the prime cause of her own downfall . " Departure and comeback . In 1973 , Patricia Phoenix took a break from the programme to tour on stage with " Subway in the Sky " . During her time off , she sent word that she and Browning were both quitting the programme . Their first project together was a 43 - week theatre tour of the Victorian melodrama " Gaslight " . About Phoenix ' s decision to quit , Adele Rose : " She wanted to do stage work too and to be honest I think she thought she could make a lot of money outside . She was offered all kinds of deals for advertising she couldn ' t do while she was in " The Street " . I think she slightly miscalculated , but it wasn ' t so much she wanted to leave " The Street " as she wanted to find out before it was too late what else she could do . " ( Egan , p127 ) Phoenix : " Playing Elsie has been rather like spending thirteen years laced into a corset that was too tight . It was claustrophobic . " ( " 35 Years " , p113 ) By 1976 , Phoenix and Browning had separated . Phoenix was doing " Random Harvest " for her former co - star Bill Kenwright , who had appeared in " Coronation Street " occasionally during 1974 and 1975 . About her decision to return to the " Street " , Kenwright says : We went out to dinner . She ' d been touring for four years and she said , ' Chuck I think I made a mistake . I shouldn ' t have left . ' She went back because of me . . . I knew she ' d left quite acrimoniously . . . I think she found it difficult to say , ' Please can I come back ? ' . . . I made the odd phone call and certainly the word was , ' Over my dead body . ' But then I finally got a chink and had a meeting . " ( Egan , p138 ) In his autobiography , Podmore remembers receiving a letter from Phoenix asking to return : " Her letter appealing for a second chance arrived almost exactly when I took over as producer and , as the decision was mine alone , I decided the comeback would be on terms I laid down . " Phoenix denied it was because of money : " It ' s got nothing to do with money . This is where my friends are . I ' m home again . " ( " 25 Years " ) Elsie returned in Episode 1588 on 5th April 1976 . In their initial meeting , Bill Podmore told Phoenix what he expected from her . From his autobiography : " If we are to recreate the gritty and earthy character of the Elsie Tanner of old , then there must be some big changes to the way you used to look . For instance , if the script states you have just got out of bed , that ' s exactly how you should look . You don ' t come downstairs first thing looking as if you had just stepped out of the hairdresser ' s , and a damn good one at that . " On Phoenix ' s reaction : " There was no argument ; Pat listened carefully . My sermon over , she looked suitably contrite and made all the promises I needed to invite her back . " . . . " I had not the slightest doubt that she believed our eventual climb back to the top of the ratings was all due to her return to Elsie ' s old home at number eleven . To top it off nicely , she instantly forgot all her promises . " Development post - return . Elsie was absent from the scenes of Len Fairclough and Rita Littlewood ' s wedding ceremony in Episode 1697 due to Phoenix being ill . In his autobiography , Podmore expresses doubts about Phoenix ' s " illness " : " Though they had never married Pat always saw the situation as Len and Elsie , a couple never to be split . . . the day the wedding was shot , she sent a message to the studio and the church where it was being filmed , to say she was ill . I couldn ' t believe it then , and I still don ' t . Pat was such a trouper she would have crawled to the studios on her hands and knees over broken glass rather than admit any illness had beaten her . Sickness was not a word in her vocabulary . " About Len and Elsie ' s close relationship over the years , Adele Rose says : " The value of their relationship was always in the spikiness underneath the genuine affection they had for each other . It was far more profitable in terms of story and character to keep them with the love - hate relationship going on . He was the one who could say things to her that nobody else could and vice versa . If we ever brought it to any kind of conclusion , that would have been the end of both the characters ' value to the show . " ( Egan , p62 ) Despite Podmore ' s warnings , Phoenix continued to dress up for Elsie ( in Episode 1780 , she gets out of bed in full make - up with immaculate hair ) . Rose : " God , we had a lot of fights over that . Constantly , we were sending messages down to wardrobe , ' Please , please dress down . ' We once very wickedly contrived a storyline where her house caught fire and all the clothes were burned . But she managed to revive her wardrobe again very quickly . " Phoenix rebutted : " The way I look and dress gives hope to all those millions of women out there of my age . " ( " 25 Years " , p131 ) Phoenix quit again in 1983 . Her final scenes were shown on 4th January 1984 , where Elsie flitted to Portugal with Bill Gregory . About her final years in the programme , writer John Stevenson remarks in Egan ' s " 50 Years " : " She didn ' t get the stories she wanted . She was a bit of a headache for the writers in some ways . Even when she was in her fifties , she wanted to be involved in love stories with men who were very attractive - not her own age - and we wouldn ' t really oblige her and so she wasn ' t very keen on some of the men we did give her because they were about her own age . " About her decision to quit : " She was a good enough actress , but if you ever saw her on stage , she couldn ' t walk across the stage in a realistic way to save her life . But she was fine for the show . There was no way she ' d ever metamorphose into Annie Walker or Ena Sharples . She would grow old a little more desperately . " On her exit : " I don ' t think anybody was too bothered about it . Because of the way the character had aged and because of the way she didn ' t want to go with the flow at all , I think it was probably best for both parties . " Elsie ' s fate . A year after after Phoenix ' s death from lung cancer in 1986 , Granada Video released " The Life and Loves of Elsie Tanner " , featuring the characters of Emily Bishop , Mike Baldwin and a returning Linda Cheveski reminiscing about Elsie , featuring archive clips . Her death was alluded to , but this and the other events in the video were subsequently ignored and when Philip Lowrie reprised the role of Dennis in 2011 , he mentioned Elsie as having died seven years prior in a motoring accident , along with Bill Gregory . The circumstances of Elsie ' s death as described by Dennis to Rita Sullivan were devised by Tony Warren , at ITV ' s request . Although Elsie was established in Episode 7600 as having married Bill Gregory , she remains listed as Elsie Tanner here as it was not conclusively established that she took Bill ' s name .