Coronation Street, The Bill and Family Affairs actress Barbara Young dies aged 92

Former Coronation Street actress Barbara Young has died at the age of 92.
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Barbara Young, an actress who starred in ITV soap Coronation Street, has died at the age of 92. The star died in a hospital in Cambridge, surrounded by her family.

Young, who was known for her role as Doreen Fenwick on the soap, passed away peacefully on Thursday (April 27), her daughter Liza Pulman announced. The cause of death is unknown.

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Pulman, 54, posted an emotional tribute to her mother on Instagram on Saturday (April 29), sharing the sad news that her ‘beautiful, brilliant and warm-hearted’ mother had ‘slipped away.’

Pulman wrote: “Just to let people know, my beautiful, brilliant, opinionated, loud, warm-hearted, talented and singular mother died on Thursday night at 10.30pm.

“My sister Cory and I were by her hospital bed for 30 hours straight and in the end, as is so often the case, she slipped away in our absence with a beautiful nurse called Mercy (you couldn’t write it) caring for her.”

She continued: “The care she received in those last days at Addenbrookes was remarkable - considered, careful and empathetic - and to a person, they all said how much they had loved my mum, how she had made them laugh and how she had always been interested in them.

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“She was 43 years without my father, 30 years without a cigarette and 20 years without a drink but never without a humbug and I like to think that now, she is sitting with my father having a large dry - martini and a cigarette as she can genuinely do what the f*** she wants now.

“I am my father’s daughter and those who know me well will know that I am never at a loss for words, but today, I have no words to describe how much I will miss her. You did well mum. Safe travels. Barbara Young - Feb 9th 1931-April 27th 2023 .”

Young starred on the ITV soap in 1961, 1982 and 1991 as characters Betty Ridgeway, Dorothy Stockwell and Barbara Platt before her most recent role as Doreen in 2007. Aside from her soap career, Young starred in dramas including The Bill and Family Affairs.

More recently, she starred in the likes of Last of the Summer Wine, Hollyoaks and a short film titled Sailor Boy. Her last role was as Grandma Sarah in 2018 biographical movie The Keeper.

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