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.
Elsie Tanner many "get rich quick" schemes to help himself and his mother. Elsie flirted on and off for years with Len Fairclough (Peter Adamson), but that ended when he married Rita Littlewood (Barbara Knox) in 1977. Even after Len's marriage to Rita, she remained a close friend. Elsie married an ex-lover from the war, American serviceman Steve Tanner in 1967 (played by Canadian actor Paul Maxwell). Due to Elsie's massive popularity during the 1960s, Steve was given the same surname so that Elsie would not have to change her name. Elsie emigrated to America with Steve but returned to Coronation Street