Phoenix's profile gained her a part in the British film "The L-Shaped Room" (1962) in which she played a prostitute and which also featured her future husband Antony Booth in a small role. After her final departure from "Coronation Street", she appeared in a one-act television play, "Hidden Talents", in 1986. At this time, she was suffering from advanced lung cancer; in the play, she played a woman dying of cancer. That same year, she also starred in short-lived sitcom "Constant Hot Water", playing a Bridlington landlady. She was the subject of "This Is Your Life" in 1972 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews on the set of "Coronation Street". In 1985, she was interviewed for a magazine by long-time fan, the singer Morrissey, who also featured her on the cover of one of the Smiths' singles, "Shakespeare's Sister".