Elsie Tanner Elsie Tanner Elsie Tanner (also Grimshaw, Howard and Gregory) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, "Coronation Street", played by Pat Phoenix from the series inception in 1960 to 1973 and from 1976 until 1984. Elsie Tanner was one of the original core characters on "Coronation Street" and appeared in the first episode. She is considered something of an icon in soap history and regarded as one of "Coronation Street's" greatest ever characters. Her final appearance came in January 1984, when Elsie emigrated to Portugal. Phoenix decided to quit the series in 1983 to pursue other projects.
Betty Williams (Coronation Street) Betty Williams (Coronation Street) Betty Williams (also Preston and Turpin) is a fictional character from the ITV soap opera, "Coronation Street", portrayed by former music hall star Betty Driver. Driver was cast as Betty in 1969, after first auditioning for the role of Hilda Ogden, which was given to Jean Alexander. The character arrived in "Coronation Street" to help her sister Maggie Cooke run the corner shop, and has since had a number of storylines which have seen her become twice widowed, and mother to an illegitimate son. For most of the shows run Betty worked as a barmaid in