Tribute to Liz Dawn (Corrie’s Vera Duckworth)
lnsidesoap pays tribute to a Street legend...
Liz Dawn described her 36 years playing Vera as “the best of my life”, and for Corrie viewers, her reign on the cobbles marked one of the show’s golden eras.
Alongside her screen partner Bill Tarmey, she was one half of the Street’s best-ever double act. In the words of Michael Le Vell (Kevin) when he paid tribute to the actress: “Jack and Vera were the foundations on which Coronation Street has been built.”
Early years
Following a series of jobs ranging from working in Woolworths to selling wigs, it was Liz’s husband Donald who pushed her towards show business, realising she had talent as a singer. It was he who suggested she change her name from Sylvia Butterfield, with Liz choosing to reverse the names of one of her daughters, Dawn Elizabeth, to create her stage name.
After working in the clubs, TV roles beckoned, and Liz first stepped on to
the cobbles in 1974. Her role grew steadily, with Vera’s future husband Jack brought in – and in 1983 the pair moved into their new home at No 9.
Rocky road
As she and Jack battled on TV, Liz’s own life wasn’t short on drama. She broke up with Don several times over the years, and was latterly dogged by ill health.
“It takes over your life,” she also said of working on Corrie. “People think you have a charmed life, but they don’t see that you’ve brought up four children and learnt your lines on the train.”
Generous soul
There’s barely been a tribute paid to Liz that hasn’t mentioned her kindness and generosity. She worked tirelessly for charity over the years, raising £1m through the Liz Dawn St James’s Hospital Breast Cancer Appeal alone. In 2000 she was delighted to be made an MBE for services to charity, collecting the honour from Her Majesty the Queen.
Bond with Bill
Lung disease from a lifetime of smoking forced Liz to leave the Street in 2008, with Vera slipping away in her sleep. Twelve million viewers watched her go – but Liz made a final appearance when Bill Tarmey retired from the show two years later, with Jack and Vera reunited for one last dance.
Liz often talked of how she and her leading man “never had a cross word”, and she was devastated by his death in 2012. “I know he’ll be waiting for me at the gates of Heaven,” she said poignantly in an interview the following year.
Liz is survived by her husband Don, her four children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.