Malcolm Hebden (born 21 December 1939) is an English retired actor. He is known for portraying the role of Norris Cole in the ITV

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 ...

'' on and off between 1994 and 1997, regularly from 1999 to 2017, and intermittently between 2019 and 2020. Aged 81, he announced his retirement from acting due to ill health.

Early life

Hebden was born on 21 December 1939 in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

before his family moved to Burnley,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, three weeks later.''I see Pendle and I'm home''
, Lancashire Evening Telegraph, 4 March 1998 He was educated at West Gate High School and began his career as a window dresser in Burnley. He found school difficult due to "severe

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

". He was involved in amateur dramatics groups, one of which included Richard Moore, called The Highcliffe Players. When aged 28, he attended the Rose Bruford Drama School in London before beginning a career in theatre.

Career

Hebden first appeared in ''

'' from 1974 to 1975, as Mavis Riley's ( Thelma Barlow) Spanish boyfriend Carlos. He first appeared as Norris Cole in 1994; he left in 1997, before returning to the role in December 1999. He also appeared in the very first episode of police procedural period drama '' Heartbeat'' as well as the sixteenth episode of its ninth series. Hebden’s other roles include portraying model toy salesman Oliver Shawcross in the short-lived ITV soap opera '' Albion Market''. In 1999, Hebden made a brief appearance as a pharmacist in the television film '' Lost for Words'', alongside Pete Postlethwaite, Anne Reid and Thora Hird. He also made an appearance in '' Last of the Summer Wine'' and also in '' Children's Ward''. Along with his on-screen business partner Barbara Knox ( Rita Sullivan), Hebden won the Best Onscreen Partnership award at the British Soap Awards in May 2006. Additionally, he won the Funniest Character award for two consecutive years at the 2001 and 2002 ''Inside Soap'' Awards. Hebden had a near-fatal heart attack in December 2017, and was absent from ''Coronation Street'' from December 2017 to April 2019. However, in March 2019, it was announced that Hebden would return briefly in May 2019. He made his final appearance in June 2020. In January 2021, he announced his retirement from acting, at the age of 81.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hebden, Malcolm 1939 births Living people Actors with dyslexia Alumni of Rose Bruford College English male soap opera actors English male stage actors Male actors from Chester 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors English actors with disabilities