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.
Dennis Tanner absence. His return made it the longest any actor in "Coronation Street" has taken a break. His return aired on 12 May 2011. It was announced on 14 December 2013 that Lowrie was to leave "Coronation Street". He departed, alongside co-star Sue Johnston, who plays Gloria Price, on 21 February 2014. Dennis returned again briefly for another storyline from April to July 2014. In his fictional backstory, Dennis was born on 1 April 1942 to Elsie and Arnold Tanner (Frank Crawshaw). When his parents' marriage collapses in 1945, Arnold left Elsie to bring up Dennis and his older sister Linda