Angela Rosemary Crow (13 December 1935 – 3 March 2022) was an English television actress, best known for her appearance in the early days of British

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based ...

'', as factory worker Doreen Lostock, between 1961 and 1963.

Early life

Crow trained at

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sena ...

, and following her graduation in 1954, toured in companies appearing in provincial theatres, as well as the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

Career

Early career

Crow's first television appearance was in '' Rheingold Theatre'', in 1956. She also appeared in other television programmes such as ''

Hancock's Half Hour ''Hancock's Half Hour'' was a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy series, broadcast from 1954 to 1961 and written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The series starred Tony Hancock, with Sidney James; the radio version also co-starred, ...

'', '' BBC Sunday Night Theatre'' and a 1960 adaption of the

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

novel, ''

Barnaby Rudge ''Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty'' (commonly known as ''Barnaby Rudge'') is a historical novel by British novelist Charles Dickens. ''Barnaby Rudge'' was one of two novels (the other was '' The Old Curiosity Shop'') that Dickens pub ...

''.

''Coronation Street''

In 1960, Crow was cast as ditzy factory worker Doreen Lostock in the newly-commissioned ITV soap opera, ''

''. Crow appeared for two years from 1961, but was absent for most of 1962 due to the Equity Actor's Strike. The character reappeared in June of that year, before departing for good in October. During her tenure, her character had a relationship with Billy Walker ( Ken Farrington), son of popular long-standing character Annie (

Doris Speed Doris Speed, MBE (3 February 1899 – 16 November 1994) was an English actress, best known for her role as landlady of the Rovers Return Inn Annie Walker on ''Coronation Street'', a role she played from the programme's first episode in 1960 u ...

). The character of Doreen had a particularly good friendship with fellow factory worker

Sheila Birtles Sheila Crossley (also Birtles) is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''Coronation Street''. She was portrayed by actress Eileen Mayers. The character is famous for her suicide plot which was ultimately axed. Casting Mayers left t ...

(Eileen Mayers). This friendship proved popular with the public, and served as a basis for the friendships of future young characters. Forty-nine years later, Crow appeared in the 2012 documentary ''The Corrie Years'' to discuss her experience on the show.

Later career

After leaving ''Coronation Street'', Crow has appeared in various popular television shows. One of which was the ''Street'' spin-off, '' Pardon the Expression'', in which Crow played shop assistant Miss Clapper. Ironically, the character worked under

Arthur Lowe Arthur Lowe (22 September 1915 – 15 April 1982) was an English actor. His acting career spanned 36 years, including starring roles in numerous theatre and television productions. He played Captain Mainwaring in the British sitcom ''Dad' ...

's character

Leonard Swindley Leonard Swindley is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. One of the original characters created by Tony Warren, he was played by actor Arthur Lowe between 1960 and 1965. The character of Mr. Swindley als ...

, who had been the boss of Crow's character when she was on ''Coronation Street''. Other appearances include ''

Dixon of Dock Green ''Dixon of Dock Green'' was a BBC police procedural television series about daily life at a fictional London police station, with the emphasis on petty crime, successfully controlled through common sense and human understanding. It ran from 19 ...

'', ''

Last of the Summer Wine ''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of ''Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes fo ...

'', '' Love Thy Neighbour'', ''

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical comprehensive school. The show began its run on 8 February 1978 on BBC1, and was one of the longest-running program ...

'' and '' Heartbeat''.

Selected filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crow, Angela 1935 births 2022 deaths Actresses from Yorkshire English soap opera actresses English television actresses 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses RADA