Amanda Barrie (born 14 September 1935) is an English actress. She
appeared in two of the Carry On films before being cast as Alma
Halliwell in ITV soap opera, Coronation Street, which she played on
and off for 20 years. Between 2003 and 2006, she played the role of
Bev Tull in the ITV prison drama, Bad Girls. She has since enjoyed a
varied stage and TV career.Born Shirley Anne Broadbent in
Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, Barrie attended St Anne's College, St
Anne's on Sea. She then trained at the Arts Educational School in
London and later at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. She appeared in
pantomime as a child and was a dancer before acting in a number of
British television and film roles in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as
presenting Hickory House with former Coronation Street star Alan
Rothwell between 1973 and 1977. She was also in two of the Carry On
films, a long-running series of British comedy films: she had a
supporting turn as a cab driver in Carry On Cabby (1963) and took the
title role in Carry On Cleo (1964).In 1975, Barrie played Mrs. B.J.
Spence in the Walt Disney film One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing. After
roles in a string of one-off television plays and series, she appeared
in a guest role as a ballet mistress in the popular BBC comedy series
Are You Being Served? in 1979. She worked for many years as a chorus
girl in the West End until her first break as an actress came along.
At sixteen she danced at the Windsor Club with Danny La Rue and
Barbara Windsor, changing her name before making her West End debut in
1961's Babes in the Wood. Throughout the 1960s, Barrie worked on many
stage productions including Cabaret, Private Lives, Hobson's Choice
and Aladdin, and continued to perform on stage until the mid-1980s.
She is well known as Alma Sedgewick (later Baldwin), in Coronation
Street. She was a bit-player in the early to mid-1980s before she was
offered a contract in 1988, after which her character became high
profile. She continued in the role until her retirement in 2001. In
the story, Alma was diagnosed with cervical cancer which later caused
her death.
appeared in two of the Carry On films before being cast as Alma
Halliwell in ITV soap opera, Coronation Street, which she played on
and off for 20 years. Between 2003 and 2006, she played the role of
Bev Tull in the ITV prison drama, Bad Girls. She has since enjoyed a
varied stage and TV career.Born Shirley Anne Broadbent in
Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, Barrie attended St Anne's College, St
Anne's on Sea. She then trained at the Arts Educational School in
London and later at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. She appeared in
pantomime as a child and was a dancer before acting in a number of
British television and film roles in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as
presenting Hickory House with former Coronation Street star Alan
Rothwell between 1973 and 1977. She was also in two of the Carry On
films, a long-running series of British comedy films: she had a
supporting turn as a cab driver in Carry On Cabby (1963) and took the
title role in Carry On Cleo (1964).In 1975, Barrie played Mrs. B.J.
Spence in the Walt Disney film One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing. After
roles in a string of one-off television plays and series, she appeared
in a guest role as a ballet mistress in the popular BBC comedy series
Are You Being Served? in 1979. She worked for many years as a chorus
girl in the West End until her first break as an actress came along.
At sixteen she danced at the Windsor Club with Danny La Rue and
Barbara Windsor, changing her name before making her West End debut in
1961's Babes in the Wood. Throughout the 1960s, Barrie worked on many
stage productions including Cabaret, Private Lives, Hobson's Choice
and Aladdin, and continued to perform on stage until the mid-1980s.
She is well known as Alma Sedgewick (later Baldwin), in Coronation
Street. She was a bit-player in the early to mid-1980s before she was
offered a contract in 1988, after which her character became high
profile. She continued in the role until her retirement in 2001. In
the story, Alma was diagnosed with cervical cancer which later caused
her death.
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