Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Corrie St stars in tearful farewell to Vera
CORRIE STARS MOURN SOAP LEGEND LIZ DAWN
There’s a saying that in life the love you give is the love you get. Well, being present at a packed Salford Cathedral yesterday to witness Liz Dawn’s final send-off, it was clear the woman who trod the Weatherfield cobbles for 34 years as Vera Duckworth gave a lot more than most.
You could feel it in the sincerity of the tributes, hear it in the laughter that greeted the many anecdotes, and see it in the tears shed not just by her family, but by her old Coronation Street co-stars, the crew, writers, backroom staff and fans who gathered in the Salford sun hours before the funeral to say their final farewells to a Street legend.
The current cast finished shooting at noon and took a coach ride the short distance from the set to join former stars such as Ken Morley (Reg Holdsworth), Bruce Jones (Les Battersby) and Alison King (Carla Connor) to pay their final respects to a woman many of them viewed as the Mother of the Street.
Shobna Gulati (Sunita Alahan) and Antony Cotton (Sean Tully), wearing rainbow-colour socks “because it would have tickled Liz”, struggled to keep their emotions in check, while Helen Worth (Gail Rodwell) hugged a distraught member of the backroom team.
The tears continued when Liz’s family arrived. Her heartbroken husband of 52 years, Don Ibbetson, sobbed openly as her coffin, bearing a pink wreath with the word Mum, was carried from the hearse. Daughters Dawn, Ann and Julie tried their best to console him.
The one truth about genuine people is that they can’t feign their authenticity. And Liz, who died last month aged 77 after a 13-year battle with lung disease emphysema, was one of the most genuine people to grace our screens.
Born Sylvia Butterfield in the front room of her parents’ council house in Leeds in 1939, she was one of five children. Mum Annie worked at a local factory and her dad Albert was a miner.
She never forgot her tough, workingclass upbringing, and remained a solid
Labour Party supporter all of her life. Graham, her son from her first, brief marriage to Walter Bradley, told the congregation of a woman of legendary generosity “way before Liz Dawn or Vera Duckworth were created”.
He recalled how, in the 1970s, Liz won a talent contest at a Scarborough holiday camp and promptly gave the £25 prize to a poor children’s charity so they could go on holiday, even though “Dad had to borrow money from Uncle Jack for petrol to get home, and more money for our school dinners on Monday”.
Many in the audience laughed and nodded in recognition of a trait they had all witnessed regularly. Graham told of Liz’s upbringing on an estate known as Corned Beef Island as “there wasn’t much meat around”. He said her celebrity status was “an amazing platform to do good for others” and led her to do endless charity work, which “raised a good few million pounds for charities” and led to her MBE.
He ended with a poignant rendition of a specially adapted version of My Way. There were two other touching eulogies, from Corrie actors Samia Longchambon (Maria Connor), who was accompanied by her ice-skater husband Sylvain, and Alan Halsall (Tyrone Dobbs), who attended with wife Lucy-jo Hudson, who played Katy Harris in the soap.
Samia melted into tears as she told how Liz was “always a force to be reckoned with and someone we all looked up to and admired.
“She was undoubtedly a wonderful, kind, funny and considerate person and someone whose generosity knew no bounds. She was an incredibly special lady and her legacy will go on.
“She touched our lives and made a difference, and for that reason we are truly grateful for her.”
Alan, who comforted Samia, said Liz “could talk to anyone and always treated everyone the same, which was absolutely part of her charm, one of the reasons we loved her all the more.
“She was a true inspiration and always so generous with her time, but never expected anything in return.
“She also had no idea how much she was loved or how funny she was, and she’d have been totally overwhelmed by the outpouring of love these last couple of weeks.
“This really wouldn’t be a tribute to Liz without ending it the way she ended all of her conversations with me and Samia, and that is simply, ‘I love you’.”
The Requiem Mass was conducted by Liz’s friend Father Brendan Curley, former Dean of Salford, and the current Dean, Father Michael Jones.
Other cast members in the congregation included Jane Danson (Leanne Battersby), Jack P Shepherd (David Platt), Chris Gascoyne (Peter Barlow), Kym Marsh (Michelle Connor) and David Neilson (Roy Cropper).
Readings were given by her Corrie son Terry, Nigel Pivaro, and real-life grandson Luke. Her two favourite hymns, Here I Am, Lord and Make Me a Channel of your Peace, were sung. As the mourners filed out of the cathedral, leaving the family to head to a private committal service, some of the cast paused to speak of their deep affection for Liz, who quit the ITV soap in 2008 due to her illness.
Michael Le Vell (Kevin Webster) said: “She was a proper matriarch. She treated all us younger ones like her own kids. She’s such a loss.”
Sally Dynevor, who plays Sally Metcalfe, added: “There was always laughter where Liz was. She cared about everyone and I think that came through with Vera. Anyone who met her will never forget her.
“She had a heart the size of Manchester. And her character was iconic. There will never be another Jack and Vera Duckworth.”
Indeed there won’t. With her curly perm, gravelly voice and wicked oneliners, Vera was one half of a Corrie double act that sits right up there with Stan and Hilda Ogden.
And as Weatherfield’s finest said their final, emotional ta-ras yesterday, it was clear that Liz Dawn may be gone but she’ll never be forgotten.
No one will forget her, she had a heart the size of Manchester SALLY DYNEVOR RECALLS LATE CO-STAR LIZ DAWN