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 (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

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

Early life

Crow trained at

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central Lond ...

, 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 festival, 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 ...

Career

Early career

Crow's first television appearance was in ''

Rheingold Theatre ''Douglas Fairbanks Presents'' is a 1953–1956 syndicated half-hour dramatic anthology series. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was the host, and he sometimes starred in episodes. It was also known as ''Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Presents''. A total of 157 epi ...

'', 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 radio series starred Tony Hancock, with Sidney James, Bill Kerr and,at various ...

'', ''

BBC Sunday Night Theatre ''Sunday Night Theatre'' was a long-running series of televised live television plays screened by BBC Television from early 1950 until 1959. The productions for the first five years or so of the run were re-staged live the following Thursday, ...

'' and a 1960 adaption of the

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

novel, ''

Barnaby Rudge ''Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty'' (commonly known as ''Barnaby Rudge'') is a historical novel by English 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 Kenneth William Farrington (born 18 April 1936) is a retired English actor. He first came to fame playing the role of Billy Walker, wayward son of publican Annie, in ITV's longest-running soap opera, ''Coronation Street''. Following a brief per ...

), son of popular long-standing character Annie (

Doris Speed Doris Speed (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 the British television soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Speed played this role from the p ...

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

Sheila Birtles Sheila Birtles (also Crossley) is a fictional character from the British ITV 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 l ...

(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 ''Pardon the Expression'' was a British sitcom made by Granada Television, that was first broadcast from Wednesday 2 June 1965 to Monday 27 June 1966. The sitcom was one of four spin-offs from the soap opera ''Coronation Street''. ''Pardon the ...

'', 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 37 years, including starring roles in numerous theatre and television productions. He played Captain Mainwaring in the British sitcom ''Dad ...

's character Leonard Swindley, 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'' is 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 1955 ...

'', ''

Last of the Summer Wine ''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom set in Yorkshire 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 seri ...

'', ''

Love Thy Neighbour Love Thy Neighbor or Love Thy Neighbour may also refer to: Film * Love Thy Neighbor (1940 film), ''Love Thy Neighbor'' (1940 film), an American film * Love Thy Neighbour (1967 film), ''Love Thy Neighbour'' (1967 film), a Danish-German comedy fil ...

'', ''

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...

'' and '' Heartbeat''.Crown Court 1973.

Selected filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crow, Angela 1935 births 2022 deaths Actresses from North Yorkshire Actresses from West Yorkshire Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art English soap opera actresses English television actresses 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses