A life on (and off) cobbles
Since making her TV debut in 1980 as part of St Winifred’s School Choir, appearing on Top Of The Pops to sing 1980’s Christmas No. 1 single There’s No One Quite Like Grandma, Sally has enjoyed a varied career.
Her best-known character was in Coronation Street as pub landlady Shelley Unwin, a role she played for nearly 800 episodes.
She also appeared alongside Peter Kay in Phoenix Nights, and has had long-running roles in Still Open All Hours, Scott & Bailey, and Mount Pleasant.
As well as TV roles,
Sally has also enjoyed a stellar stage career, including roles as Marilyn Monroe in the musical Ella, Meet Marilyn at the Edinburgh Fringe and in an outdoor performance of Much Ado About Nothing at Stafford Castle. “I’ve been extremely lucky in having such an eclectic career – I think it’s a portfolio career they call it now – where people have asked me to do different things for different audiences, which means people know me for different things,” Sally smiled. “It keeps my options open and I never get bored and I’m rarely out of work. Especially for a woman heading towards my 50s – I’m 47 now – that is the way forward, to keep all of my options open rather than saying this and this is what I am.”