Betty Driver | Coronation Street Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Share Elizabeth Mary "Betty" Driver ( 20th May 1920 - 15th October 2011 ) was an actress and singer most famous for her long-running Coronation Street role as Rovers Return Inn barmaid Betty Williams (previously Turpin), a role she played from 1969 to 2011 . After a career in the 1930s and 1940s as a big band singer, Betty went into acting, and in 1964 she auditioned for the part of Hilda Ogden on the Street, but was rejected because the casting directors wanted an actress who weighed less. In 1965 she gained a role in the Street spin-off sitcom Pardon the Expression , where she suffered a back injury after the script required her to throw Arthur Lowe . Betty retired from showbusiness in November 1967 to run a pub - firstly Cock Hotel at Whaley Bridge and later the Devonshire Arms in Mellor where H.V.

Kershaw tracked her down in 1969 and persuaded her to return to acting in the role of Betty Turpin. Betty was awarded the MBE in 1999 . Betty was also awarded the "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the British Soap Awards in 2010 . Betty was rushed to hospital on 11th May 2011 suffering from pneumonia. Her character's final scenes aired in Episode 7610 on 27th May . The actress passed away several months later on 15th October . Her funeral was held at St Ann's Church, Manchester on Saturday 22nd October when Helen Worth and Bill Kenwright gave addresses and many of the cast, past and present, attended. The character she had played for 42 years was written out of the programme in April 2012 , after dying off-screen of natural causes. A portrait of her was placed on the wall of the Rovers Return set, allowing the memory of both she and the character to remain a constant presence.

Betty Driver - Telegraph TV & Radio Obituaries Betty Driver Betty Driver, who has died aged 91, played the barmaid Betty Turpin in Coronation Street for more than 40 years, appearing in some 2,800 episodes and becoming one of the ITV soap opera’s longest-serving and most popular characters; she also found success in an earlier career as a singer. Betty Driver played Rovers Return barmaid Betty Williams for 42 years. Photo: REX 5:47PM BST 16 Oct 2011 As Betty Turpin (later Williams, after her screen marriage), Betty Driver served up her iconic lunchtime hotpots at the Rovers Return while dispensing forthright common sense from behind the beer pumps. Her character was gritty, but also maternal and dependable — the sort of woman you could safely turn to in a crisis. Like her television alter ego, Betty Driver considered herself a survivor. She had, she said, been robbed of her childhood by her tyrannical mother, Nellie, who pushed her into a showbusiness career; while still a young girl Betty was forced to work in variety shows, twice nightly, six days a week.

Nellie Driver insisted that her daughter emulate Gracie Fields, and forced her to sing in a much higher register than was comfortable for her. “I didn’t really sound like Gracie at all,” Betty Driver later reflected. “My voice was pitched much lower for a start. But my mother was convinced I could sound like Gracie if I tried.” Although billed in variety shows in the early 1930s as “the new Gracie Fields”, each time Betty Driver reached for the highest notes it put enormous stress on her throat. Eventually the strain left her in agony, and, unable even to speak, she was forced to undergo surgery. The operation was, however, only a limited success, and by her mid-30s she had no singing voice at all. Elizabeth Mary Driver was born in Leicester on May 20 1920, the elder of two sisters. When she was two, her father, a policeman, moved the family to Manchester. At the age of six her star-struck mother pushed her into a career on the stage, and she joined the Terence Byron Repertory Company when she was nine.

Related Articles Stars say farewell to Betty Driver 22 Oct 2011 Having turned professional at the age of 10 in a touring production of Mixed Bathing, at 14 Betty landed her first film role and appeared on the London stage. In George Formby’s first film, Boots! Boots! (1934), Betty had a few lines of dialogue and a big production number in which she sang and tap-danced with the star. Her scenes ended up being cut from the film, however, on the orders of Formby’s domineering wife Beryl, who also danced in the film and had no wish to be upstaged by a child. At the age of 12 Betty Driver had been offered work in radio, on which she sang with the bandleader Harry Hall. She was signed up after being spotted by Archie Pitt (the former husband of Gracie Fields) and his brother Bert Aza when she was performing in a revue at the Prince Of Wales Theatre. As her agent, Aza put her into a touring version of the hit show Mr Tower of London, as a double for Gracie.

The film director Basil Dean, after seeing her in Jimmy Hunter’s Brighton Follies, cast her in the 1938 film Penny Paradise. This was followed by parts in Let’s Be Famous and Facing The Music, but her contract was cancelled at the outbreak of the Second World War. During the conflict Betty Driver became a darling of the forces, entertaining the troops with Ensa (the RAF named a Spitfire after her). She teamed up again with Henry Hall, singing on and off for seven years in his radio show Henry Hall’s Guest Night. She also had her own show, A Date With Betty. She released hit recordings of songs such as The Sailor With The Navy Blue Eyes; Macnamara’s Band; Pick The Petals Of A Daisy; Jubilee Baby; and September In The Rain. Although Betty Driver’s career appeared to be blossoming, there were concerns about her health. She weathered a nervous breakdown in her early 20s, and when she kept blacking out on stage her mother threw bowls of water over her to revive her. After a time her confidence deserted her and she was unable to carry on working. Encouraged by Henry Hall, she made a comeback before her voice finally disintegrated.

Betty Driver later travelled to Australia, where she performed in her own show, and to Cyprus, Malta and the Middle East. On her return to England she appeared in several Ealing comedies. In 1953, when she was 33, she married the South African singer and comedian Wally Petersen, with whom she was appearing on a variety bill. The first man to propose to her, he insisted on taking her back to South Africa and made her give up work. But Petersen turned out to be a compulsive womaniser, and Betty Driver returned to Britain a few months later, ending the marriage after seven years. With her singing voice wrecked, she turned to acting, appearing on stage in The Lovebirds, Pillar to Post and What A Racket (with Arthur Askey) and on television with James Bolam in Love On The Dole. In 1964 she auditioned at Granada Television for the role of Hilda Ogden in Coronation Street, only to be informed that they wanted someone thinner — the part went to Jean Alexander.

Two years later Betty played a canteen manageress in the Coronation Street spin-off series Pardon The Expression, in which Arthur Lowe re-created the role of Arthur Swindley. In one episode she pretended to perform a ju-jitsu throw on him; the stunt misfired, and she suffered temporary paralysis, dislocated her hip and injured her back. Although in time she recovered, Betty Driver’s confidence again took a knock, and she decided to retire from showbusiness. With her sister, Freda, and their father, Fred, she took over a pub at Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire, and later another one in Cheshire. In 1969 one of her customers, the Granada producer Harry Kershaw, asked if she would be interested in appearing in Coronation Street. Betty Driver made her debut on June 2 1969 as the sister of the corner shop owner Maggie Clegg. Her debut coincided with a recurrence of her throat problems, and although she underwent further surgery, for a time she could speak only in a whisper. Betty Driver never intended to retire.

In 2006, when the actor Sir Ian McKellen complained that — even at 86 — she drove herself to the studios at 7.30 every morning, Granada executives laid on a car. In the New Year’s Honours List of 2000 Betty Driver was appointed MBE . In the same year she published her memoirs, Betty: The Autobiography, co-written with Daran Little. Her sister Freda died in 2008. Betty Driver, born May 20 1920, died October 15 2011 Betty Driver obituary | Television & radio | The Guardian Betty Driver obituary Singer, comic actor and stalwart of Coronation Street Betty Driver on the set of Coronation Street in 2001.

Photograph: ITV/Rex Features Saturday 15 October 2011 12.26 EDT First published on Saturday 15 October 2011 12.26 EDT Share on Messenger Close Betty Driver, who has died aged 91, was a gutsy and durable comic actor who meant one thing to young audiences and quite another to those who could remember the second world war and the years immediately after it. To the youthful, she will be remembered as Betty Turpin (later Betty Williams), the barmaid, shoulder to cry on and wife of the policeman Cyril Turpin in Granada television's Coronation Street , whose cast she joined in 1969. To a much older audience, she will also be remembered for her appearances in repertory theatres and in stage revues; as the child star who took over from the popular singer Gracie Fields on a stage tour, doing some of her best-known numbers; and as the principal singer for a year with the leading dance orchestra leader of the time, Henry Hall, on his BBC radio programme, Henry Hall's Guest Night.

She sang for seven years with Hall, and with him and far more mature artists than herself entertained the troops during the war. Driver was one of the pre-feminist female singer-comedians who made their mark with a perky, slightly rebellious manner in the tradition of Marie Lloyd and Cicely Courtneidge. There was little of the wilting English rose about the songs she sang or the parts she played, even if the bright edifice often concealed her own emotional pain. It helped that she was a large woman who once considered it a victory when she got her weight down to 13 stone. Born in Leicester, she spent her childhood in Manchester. Her parents were a police inspector and a pianist mother, determined that her daughter should get a foothold in show business. Her husband was too weak a character to defend his daughter, eventually leaving the police force to run a nightclub in Manchester. In her memoir Betty: The Autobiography (2000), Driver wrote that she had been at the mercy of "an overbearing, ambitious, cruel and pushy mother whose insistence on putting me into show business at a young age effectively robbed me of my childhood ...

[Nellie Driver] was one of the most loathed women in the business." At the age of seven, Betty joined the Terence Byron repertory company and played with The Quaintesques, a group of men dressed as women who visited Manchester once a year. The star of this show, Billy Manders, had heard her in the audience loudly singing the choruses and invited her on to the stage. They brought the house down and she was given a bottle of toffees. Soon she was taken by her mother to perform in a police charity concert at Manchester Hippodrome, and was presented with a gold watch by the chief constable, which pleased her mother and father more than her. When mother and daughter came to London at the end of her schooling – at her mother's instigation – they did not find theatrical managements receptive. Tours of their offices produced no offers. Instead her mother decided to go straight to individual theatres. Presenting themselves at the stage door of the Prince of Wales theatre in September 1934 changed their luck.

Without a band rehearsal, Betty was allowed to go on stage and sing a number of her favourite songs, and was hired to appear as Gracie Fields's double in Mr Tower of London. After her first performance, one journalist described her as "a little tomboy from Lancashire". She was later hired for a long tour of Mr Tower of London when Fields moved on to other projects. Films, BBC broadcasts and appearances in the revues of the leading impresarios CB Cochran and Prince Littler followed. It was not until she was 16 that, with the aid of her younger sister Freda, she rebelled against her mother's view of her as a lucrative child star who should carry on singing in the style of Fields. Freda, who had never been as overawed by her mother as Betty and their father were, threw the songsheets her mother wanted Betty to sing on to the fire and substituted more modern and adult ones. Betty appeared in the cheeky It's Foolish But It's Fun at the London Coliseum, and did film work, notably in Ealing Studios comedies. She made Boots! Boots!

(1934) with George Formby, Penny Paradise (1938), Let's Be Famous (1939) and Facing the Music (1941). Her hit recordings started with Jubilee Baby (1934), and went on to include The Sailor With The Navy Blue Eyes, Macnamara's Band, Pick The Petals Of A Daisy, Jubilee Baby and September In The Rain. In her 20s, she had a breakdown and collapsed on stage in Birmingham. Her mother, in the wings as usual, threw water over her, and insisted she do the evening performance. When she blacked out again in the evening, her mother still maintained that she was "faking". There were other strains. Aided by her sister, she took control of her own financial affairs, only to find that instead of banking her earnings – which often reached the then impressive sum of £150 a week – her parents had spent it all on cars, drink and other luxuries for themselves and left none for her. But she was still bankable.

In 1952 the BBC gave her her own regular radio programme, A Date with Betty, broadcast live, and she married her South African husband, Wally Peterson. By then a household name, she appeared in several TV series and had her own roadshow. In 1953 she went to Australia, where she appeared in musical revue, then toured the Middle East and entertained British troops in Cyprus and Germany. In 1958, she starred on stage in The Lovebirds, followed by a short break as a housewife in South Africa, which did not suit her. Back in Britain, she played in Pillar to Post, made cabaret appearances and did summer seasons, including the immensely popular What a Racket with Arthur Askey at Blackpool. Finding that her husband was not only a philanderer, but was spending her money freely, she separated from him after seven years of marriage. They were divorced 11 years later. It was her switch to drama that led to her long association with Granada and Coronation Street.

She appeared as Mrs Edgeley, the masterful canteen manager in the TV series Pardon the Expression (1965-66), a Coronation Street spin-off, which also included Arthur Lowe in his Coronation Street role of Leonard Swindley. At one point, she was required to throw him, and in doing so dislocated her hip and injured her back. She appeared with James Bolam in the Granada production of Love On the Dole (1968), Walter Greenwood's story of poverty and unemployment in the 1930s, before making her first appearance in Coronation Street itself in June 1969. By then Betty had virtually given up show business, discouraged by the damage done to her back. "I decided to retire, and with Freda, we ran a couple of hotels in Cheshire. It was there that Harry Kershaw, producer of Coronation Street, persuaded me to audition for Hilda Ogden – just think, I could have been wearing curlers for 30 years," she recalled in her 80s.

That came to nothing, but a few years later Kershaw stood in one of the bars, heard her talking to other customers and simply asked her, "How would you like to pull pints in the Rovers Return?" He told her that the barmaid character he had in mind for her to play would be called Betty Turpin, and would have her own "warm, homely, nice-to-everyone temperament". Betty Turpin, later Betty Williams , became one of the longest-serving characters in the soap, well-known for serving up her signature dish, Betty's hotpot, in the Rovers Return – indeed, so well-known that a Lancashire pie manufacturer marketed a hotpot to Betty's recipe. Cyril died in 1974, and in 1995 Betty married her wartime sweetheart, Billy Williams, only to be widowed again two years later. She appeared in more than 2,800 episodes of the show, the final one broadcast last May. Driver took part in a Royal Variety Performance in 1989, and ten years later was appointed MBE. She kept faith with her northern roots by living near Altrincham, Cheshire, and collected paintings and antiques.

• Betty (Elizabeth Mary) Driver, actor and singer, born 20 May 1920; died 15 October 2011 Coronation Street barmaid Betty Driver dies – Channel 4 News UK , World Coronation Street barmaid Betty Driver dies Coronation Street favourite Betty Driver, who played the role of the Rovers Return barmaid for 42 years, has died aged 91. Share on Twitter An ITV spokesman said Driver “died peacefully in hospital” in the early hours of Saturday morning. The actress had been in hospital for six weeks. She had also been unwell earlier in the year and was treated for a chest infection in 2010. Barbara Knox, who plays Rita Sullivan in Coronation Street, said: “I have lost a very dear friend and the Street has lost a very great character, a professional to her fingertips – she will be greatly missed.” Julie Goodyear, fellow barmaid Bet Lynch in the soap, said: “It was an honour and a privilege to work with Betty Driver for 25 years. She will be missed and remembered by millions. Julie Goodyear “We laughed together, we cried together and never once had a cross word.

She was a totally professional actress. A true icon and legend and a very dear friend.” Ms Goodyear said Driver was “the very foundation of the Rovers Return” and added: “She will be missed and remembered by millions.” Driver had originally auditioned for the role of Hilda Ogden in 1964 after a 36-year-career in radio, television and the stage. She was then persuaded to come out of retirement in 1969 to audition for the role of Betty instead. Her character became known for her famous hotpot – but Driver herself never tasted the dish as she did not eat meat. Last year, when the soap celebrated its 50th anniversary, Driver insisted she would never retire from the show. She said at the time: “I love working. I can’t retire, I won’t retire – I never ever will.” Life before Corrie Driver was already a household name in the 1940s as a leading vocalist with some of the top dance bands in the country. She was persuaded out of retirement in 1969 and since, as Betty Williams, became the longest-serving barmaid in the history of the Rovers Return.

Before she became a full-time actress she sang with such bands as Henry Hall’s and became a major recording artist in her own right. Like Vera Lynn, she entertained the troops during the Second World War with the Ensa organisation (Entertainment National Service Association). The elder of two daughters, Driver was pushed into a life on the boards by her star-struck mother, Nell. She joined the Terence Byron Repertory Company at the age of nine, and turned professional aged ten in a touring production of Mixed Bathing. At 14 she landed her first film role and trod the London stage. Like Vera Lynn, she entertained the troops during the Second World War While still in her teens she appeared in a number of films and was making her name as a vocalist. During the war she teamed up with band-leader Henry Hall and for seven years became a regular and popular feature on his top radio show Henry Hall’s Guest Night. She also had her own show, A Date With Betty. By now she had become a major recording star with such hits as The Sailor With The Navy Blue Eyes, Macnamara’s Band, Pick The Petals Of A Daisy, Jubilee Baby and September In The Rain.

Soon she was to travel to Australia, where she performed in her own show, and her career took her to Cyprus, Malta and the Middle East. On her return home, she appeared in various Ealing comedies. Aged 32, Driver married South African singer Wally Peterson. They returned to South Africa, but she came back home after a few months and ended the marriage after seven years. In 1964, she auditioned for the role of Hilda Ogden in Coronation Street, but the producers wanted someone more slender. Two years later she was given the role of canteen manageress in the first of two Coronation Street spin-off series, Pardon the Expression. However, in one scene, in which she had to throw actor Arthur Lowe, she dislocated her hip and injured her back and decided to retire from showbusiness. In 1969, Harry Kershaw, the Coronation Street producer, asked if she would be interested in appearing in the show. She agreed and started out as Betty Turpin becoming, after “marriage”, Betty Williams. Driver was awarded the MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours List of 2000.

Coronation Street pays tribute to Betty Driver | Radio Times Coronation Street pays tribute to Betty Driver Details emerge of how long-standing Rovers barmaid Betty Williams will depart Weatherfield Comments Written By 3:25 PM, 28 February 2012 Coronation Street will dedicate an episode to the late Betty Driver, the actress who played the role of Betty Williams from 1969 to 2011. West End theatre producer and chairman of Everton Football Club Bill Kenwright, who played Betty’s son Gordon in the ITV1 soap, will make a one-off return for the occasion. Alison Sinclair, Coronation Street’s chief publicity officer, gave details of the tribute to BBC Radio 5 live’s Breakfast: “Bill Kenwright is coming back. He is going to tell the residents that she’s passed away and there will be a funeral, although we won’t actually see it. This episode is about Betty, its not a return of a cast of thousands who worked with her.

“The interesting thing is that there’s going to be a secret revealed that Betty has kept for years and it’s going to be a shock to quite a few people.” Betty Driver died last October at the age of 91 following a period of ill health, but Sinclair promised fans a send-off to remember: “She was an amazing lady to work with and Bill came to her funeral and was very keen to be a part of any story we did. And Betty would be thrilled because she always classed him as her son and he classed her as his second mum. It’s going to be a lovely, lovely episode.” Like this? Share it. Coronation Street's Betty Driver dies Coronation Street's Betty Driver dies (BANG) - 'Coronation Street' actress Betty Driver has died. The 91-year-old veteran star - who played hotpot-loving Betty Williams in the ITV1 soap - "died peacefully in hospital" early this morning (15.10.11) after being admitted six weeks ago.

An ITV spokesman said: "She will be sadly missed by everyone who knew her." Betty's co-stars rushed to pay tribute to her today with Barbara Knox, who plays Rita Sullivan saying: "I have lost a very dear friend and the Street has lost a very great character, a professional to her fingertips - she will be greatly missed." Julie Goodyear, who starred as fellow barmaid Bet Lynch in the soap, said: "It was an honour and a privilege to work with Betty Driver for 25 years. "We laughed together, we cried together and never once had a cross word. She was a totally professional actress. A true icon and legend and a very dear friend." Simon Gregson (Steve McDonald) added: "I have known Betty since I was 15 years old, we always had a very good relationship and I was fortunate to be one of her friends and I am going to miss her." 'Coronation Street' executive producer Kieran Roberts said: "Betty was a wonderful actress and remarkable woman.

"It is humbling to think that the 42 years she spent on 'Coronation Street' was just half of her extraordinary career but 'Coronation Street' certainly benefited when she decided to join our show in 1969. "For more than four decades she delighted many millions of 'Coronation Street' fans with her fantastic performance in countless great stories both dramatic and comic. "Betty was always a delight to work with and whilst there is a great sadness at her passing away Betty will be remembered by everyone on 'Coronation Street' with tremendous admiration and affection." Betty had originally auditioned for the role of Hilda Ogden in 1964 after a 36-year-career in radio, television and the stage but eventually won the role of the Rovers Return barmaid, and recently revealed she dreaded the thought of retiring and wanted to die on the cobbles. She said: "I love working on the Street because everyone on it is like my family.

I don't want to leave at all - I want to die on set." (C) BANG Media International Funeral for Coronation Street's Betty Driver in Manchester - BBC News BBC News Funeral for Coronation Street's Betty Driver in Manchester 22 October 2011 Close share panel Media captionActress Helen Worth, who plays Gail in the soap, paid tribute to Betty Driver Family, friends, colleagues and fans of Coronation Street star Betty Driver have turned out for her funeral in Manchester. The much loved actress, who played the role of Betty Williams (Turpin) for 42 years, died on 15 October, aged 91. She was the Rovers Return's longest serving barmaid and was famous for her homemade hot-pots. Helen Worth, Gail McIntyre in the soap, told the congregation: "The Rovers will not be the same without her." "How do we say goodbye to her?

In the way she wanted us to do with a smile, remembering her infectious laugh, her perfume which announced her arrival, her love of life and everyone in it and celebrate with joy the glorious 91 years of Betty Driver." Image caption Betty Driver appeared in more than 2,800 episodes She said that Driver - who had appeared in 2,800 episodes - had wanted her funeral to be on a Saturday so "that all at Granada were to free to share her life, to remember her and to say goodbye to our dearest Betty". Ms Worth said it was 37 years since "my dearest Betty" first called her "her child". It was a title she had kept happily ever since, she said. "I always knew a hug was guaranteed and her last words to me when she was so ill, and it was such an effort for her to speak, were: 'I want you to be happy'. "In fact, you know, Betty just wanted the whole world to be happy." She said Driver was the "ultimate professional" and "knew everything there was to showbusiness". Ms Worth added: "She never wanted it to end.

Her place behind the bar at the Rovers was always kept open." Those at the Street were her family and a trip to the canteen with Betty always took a very long time, she said. 'Bedrock' of street The Rev Nigel Ashworth presided over the uplifting service, along with the Rev Lister Tonge - one of Driver's friends. Driver had planned the service, choosing the music and the flowers. It was also her idea to screen the service in St Ann's Square for fans. Bill Kenwright who played Betty's screen son Gordon spoke of his "second mother". He told the congregation she was a "huge, huge star in variety" who was in the West End at 12, had starred in three films by the age of 18, and was a leading band singer in the 1940s. She went on to become the "bedrock" of Coronation Street, he said. Image caption Actress Betty Driver arrived at the Rovers Return in 1969 Kenwright said he had received letters from all over the world saying "'I am so sorry about your mother".

He said Driver - who was made an MBE in 1999 - would have been thrilled with the service. "She would not quite know how to take it. She was a really shy lady." Her personal assistant Charles Orr told the congregation he had been with Driver a few weeks ago when they came across "a gang of hoodies". She beckoned them over and urged them to talk to her, she said. "These lads, the hoods came off, the chewing stopped... it was just, I cannot begin to tell you, pure pure magic. "Then came the mobile phones to take photographs and we had to get the pen to sign the foreheads. 'Can I sit on your knee?', 'No, you can't' came the reply, 'not the knee, but you can give me a kiss'." He said they left the young men doing high-fives, calling their friends saying: "I've just met Betty Driver! I've just met Betty!" A recording of Driver singing The World Will Sing Again which she sang in Europe and the Middle East during the war was played to the congregation. It was followed by a standing ovation.

'Beautiful person' Speaking after the service, William Roache - who plays Ken Barlow - said: "She was there. You could feel her presence. "And to hear her sing - people don't realise, this generation, and why should they, in the 50s and 40s she had such a beautiful voice. "To hear that beautiful voice epitomised what a beautiful person she was. "A very, very wonderful human being from which we can all learn and we are all better for having known her." Ms Worth added the service was "just perfect" because it was a celebration of her life. "I think there will be a send off to her on the Street in a couple of months' time," she said. Betty Driver dead: Coronation Street star dies aged 91 | Daily Mail Online comments As the Rovers Return's 'hotpot queen' and longest-serving barmaid Betty Turpin, she was involved in some of Coronation Street's most high-profile storylines, such as her discovery that her supposed nephew was actually her illegitimate son.

Now cast members past and present have paid tribute to actress Betty Driver, who died yesterday aged 91, following 42 years in the ITV soap and a personal life almost as dramatic as that of her character. Mrs Driver, who was the third-longest-serving cast member and who vowed never to retire, died early yesterday, having been admitted to hospital six weeks ago, according to a Coronation Street spokesman. 'She'll be sadly missed': Coronation Street actress Betty Driver has died aged 91 Julie Goodyear, who played fellow barmaid Bet Lynch between 1966 and 2003, and who visited the actress in her final days, said: 'She was a totally professional actress, a true icon and legend, and a very dear friend.' Barmaids united: Julie Goodyear, who played Bet Lynch in the soap, has expressed her sadness after Betty's death Julie Goodyear, fellow barmaid Bet Lynch in the soap, said: 'It was an honour and a privilege to work with Betty Driver for 25 years. 'We laughed together, we cried together and never once had a cross word. She was a totally professional actress.

A true icon and legend and a very dear friend.' Ms Goodyear said Driver was 'the very foundation of the Rovers Return' and added: 'She will be missed and remembered by millions.' Coronation Street executive producer Kieran Roberts said: 'Betty was a wonderful actress and remarkable woman. 'It is humbling to think that the 42 years she spent on Coronation Street was just half of her extraordinary career but Coronation Street certainly benefited when she decided to join our show in 1969. 'For more than four decades she delighted many millions of Coronation Street fans with her fantastic performance in countless great stories both dramatic and comic. 'Betty was always a delight to work with and whilst there is a great sadness at her passing away Betty will be remembered by everyone on Coronation Street with tremendous admiration and affection.' Coronation Street's Helen Worth said: 'Our dearest Betty was loved by all she met, and will be sadly missed by all the cast and everyone working on the Street. The legacy she leaves is of laughter and love. The Rovers will not be the same without our adorable Betty.' Antony Cotton, who plays Sean Tully, added: 'Today is a very sad day.

I am devastated we've lost our Betty. She was one of the funniest people I've ever met and definitely the kindest. I will miss her so much. Her star shone bright and long. Sweet dreams, duck.' And William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow, said: 'I loved Betty dearly, she was not only a colleague, she was a friend and godmother to my son James. She will be missed in the Street but she will be missed more so as a warm and loving person.' Back in the day: Betty (far right) in 1985 with fellow Coronation Street stars including Goodyear (far left) Simon Gregson, who plays Steve McDonald, said: 'I have known Betty since I was 15 years old, we always had a very good relationship and I was fortunate to be one of her friends and I am going to miss her.' Her close friend Charles Orr said: 'A true legend has left us with enough love and memories to last a lifetime.' Behind the bar: Betty played the role of barmaid Betty Williams for 42 years Katherine Kelly, who plays Becky McDonald, said: 'Our Betty - the true and constant Queen of the Rovers.

'The most famous street in the kingdom will never be the same now you are gone, but those sparkling eyes and cheeky laugh will live with me forever.' Charlie Condou, Marcus Dent in the soap, wrote on Twitter: 'Very sad to hear our wonderful Betty Driver has passed away. A true Corrie legend. She will be missed.' Driver had originally auditioned for the role of Hilda Ogden in 1964 after a 36-year-career in radio, television and the stage. She was then persuaded to come out of retirement in 1969 to audition for the role of Betty instead. Her famous hot-pot, served at lunch-time in the Rovers, became an iconic dish which was subsequently offered as a ready meal in United Kingdom supermarkets. But Driver herself never tasted the dish as she did not eat meat. Last year, when the soap celebrated its 50th anniversary, Driver insisted she would never retire from the show. She said at the time: 'I love working. I can't retire, I won't retire - I never ever will.' The veteran actress was known for her cheery personality but told in an emotional interview last year of her loveless childhood.

Speaking on Desert Island Discs, she revealed that she and sister Freda had a 'sad little life'. Honoured: Veteran actress Betty Driver was awarded with an OBE at Buckingham Palace in 2000 Driver told presenter Kirsty Young: 'We never got a kiss. We never got a present, nothing. My mother was so strong that my dad just gave up. He was a sweet person but he just gave up. HOW TO MAKE BETTY'S HOTPOT Three quarters of a kilogram each of neck of lamb and potatoes A large onion 1. Brown the meat in a pan of very hot oil then set aside 2. Chop and fry the onion until it begins to brown 3. Sprinkle flour into the pan with the onions and stir to soak up the fat 4. Turn off the heat and add the water slowly while stirring vigorously to prevent lumps forming 5. Add a dash of Worcestershire Sauce, salt and pepper to taste 6. Mix the onion, meat and stock together and stir in a bay leaf 7. Alternate layers of meat and onion mix with thinly sliced potato in an ovenproof dish. The top layer should be potato. 8.

Cover and bake at 325 F for 2 hours 9. Remove cover and continue to bake until the top layer of potato browns 'She was so domineering there was nothing you could do about it. It was a very, very sad little life, me and my sister, you know.' Drive was already a household name in the 1940s as a leading vocalist with some of the top dance bands in the country. She was persuaded out of retirement in 1969 and since, as Betty Williams, became the longest-serving barmaid in the history of the Rovers Return. But before she became a full-time actress she sang with such bands as Henry Hall's and became a major recording artist in her own right. Like Vera Lynn, she entertained the troops during the Second World War with the Ensa organisation (Entertainment National Service Association). Driver was born on May 20, 1920, in Leicester, the elder of two daughters. She was pushed into a life on the boards by her star-struck mother, Nell. She joined the Terence Byron Repertory Company at the age of nine, and turned professional aged ten in a touring production of Mixed Bathing.

At 14 she landed her first film role and trod the London stage. She appeared in George Formby's Boots! Boots! but her song and dance scene was cut by Formby's domineering wife, Bessie, who also danced in the film and did not want to be upstaged by a child. While still in her teens she appeared in a number of films and was making her name as a vocalist. During the war she teamed up with band-leader Henry Hall and for seven years became a regular and popular feature on his top radio show Henry Hall's Guest Night. She also had her own show, A Date With Betty. By now she had become a major recording star with such hits as The Sailor With The Navy Blue Eyes, Macnamara's Band, Pick The Petals Of A Daisy, Jubilee Baby and September In The Rain. Soon she was to travel to Australia, where she performed in her own show, and her career took her to Cyprus, Malta and the Middle East. On her return home, she appeared in various Ealing comedies. Aged 32, Ms Driver married South African singer Wally Peterson.

They returned to South Africa, but Betty came back home after a few months and ended the marriage after seven years. In 1964, she auditioned for the role of Hilda Ogden in Coronation Street, but the producers wanted someone more slender. Two years later she was given the role of canteen manageress in the first of two Coronation Street spin-off series, Pardon the Expression. However, in one scene, in which she had to throw actor Arthur Lowe, she dislocated her hip and injured her back and decided to retire from showbusiness. She and her sister Freda and their father Frederick took over the Cock Hotel in Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire, and later the Devonshire Arms, Cheshire. True icon: Betty at the Coronation Street 50th Anniversary Ball at the Hilton Hotel in Manchester last December In 1969, one of her customers, Harry Kershaw, the Coronation Street producer, asked if she would be interested in appearing in the show. She agreed and started out as Betty Turpin becoming, after 'marriage', Betty Williams. Ms Driver was awarded the MBE in the Queen's New Year Honours List of 2000.

Driver appeared in more than 2,800 episodes of Coronation Street and was made an MBE in the Millennium New Year's Honours list.

Question: Betty Driver played which role in Coronation Street?
Answer: Betty Williams