Cilla Black special edition of "Coronation Street". In 2014, Black was the subject of a three-part television drama series, "Cilla", focusing especially on her rise to fame in 1960s Liverpool and her relationship with Bobby Willis. ITV aired the first instalment on 15 September 2014, starring BAFTA award-winning actress Sheridan Smith. Black was married to her manager, Bobby Willis, for 30 years from 1969 until he died from lung cancer on 23 October 1999. They had three sons: Robert (born 1970, who became her manager), Ben (born 1974) and Jack (born 1980). Their daughter, Ellen (born 1975), was born prematurely and suffered
Sheridan Smith two-part BBC drama "The 7.39". In March 2014, she appeared in the ITV crime drama "The Widower" as the first wife of serial killer Malcolm Webster. Later that year, she featured in the series "Who Do You Think You Are?" and played Cilla Black in the three-part ITV drama series "Cilla". In 2015 she starred as cancer patient Lisa Lynch in the one-off BBC drama "The C Word" and as policewoman Jo Gillespie in the three-part ITV drama "Black Work", which was nominated for a National Television Award in 2016. Smith narrated the reality series "" from 2015. The show