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.
Hooker with a heart of gold character of Nancy in Charles Dickens' novel "Oliver Twist" and the stage musical derived from it, "Oliver!". In television history, the ""tart with a heart"" has become an important archetype in serial drama and soap opera, especially in Britain. During the 1960s, the character of Elsie Tanner in British series "Coronation Street" set the mold for future characters such as Bet Lynch (also "Coronation Street"), Kat Slater, Stacey Slater and Dawn Swann (all three characters from the British soap opera "EastEnders"). Characters of this nature are often depicted as having tragic lives, but put on a front when in public