Helen Worth's life so far as the Coronation Street legend turns 74 weeks after saying farwell to Gail Platt

Early life

Helen Worth MBE was born on January 7 1951 as Cathryn Helen Wigglesworth to married couple Alfred and Wiglesworth.

Although born in Ossett, West Yorkshire, the family moved to Morecambe when Helen was two and she grew up there, attending West End Primary School and Mount Independent School.

Her parents ran a seaside hotel in Morecambe throughout her childhood.

Helen, now 74, also took dancing lessons from the age of three and appeared in many school ­theatrical productions.

Career beginnings

When Helen was just ten years old she was invited to read stories on ­Granada Television’s news and current affairs programme Scene at 6.30.

Aged 12 she appeared in an episode of the Z-Cars and starred as one of the von Trapp children in The Sound of Music at London’s Palace Theatre.

Whilst attending drama college in London, aged 17 she secured her first film role playing an urcin in the 1968 film Oliver!

Betwen 1969 and 1975, Helen then starred in various TV programmes, including Doctor Who (1971) and Time of Your Life (1971-1972) in which she played hte lead role Pauline Jackson.

Becoming a TV icon

In July 1974, Helen joined the ITV soap Coronation Street as Gail Platt who went on to be become one of the soap’s most prominent figures, starring in a number of explosive storylines over the years, including the deaths of four of her five husbands.

Helen has won two Outstanding Achievement Awards for her role as Gail - the first at the Inside Soap Awars in 2006, the second at the Briitsh Soap Awards in 2014- and she also won a Brisih Soap Award for Scene of the Year in 2019.

In 2014, ITV honoured the long-serving actress with a documentary celebrating her 40 years on the soap with a one-off special titled Gail & Me.

After being made an MBE for her services to drama in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in 2022, Helen told the PA news agency: "To have had a job and one that I love, and to be able to work in it is quite extraordinary. And then to get an award for it is just the icing on the cake."

In June this year it was announced that Helen would be leaving Corrie after 50 years that Christmas, with the Morecambe star stating: "This year felt like the perfect time to leave the show after celebrating 50 years in the most wonderful job on the most wonderful street in the world.”

At Christmas, Helen officially said farwell to the soap as Gail swapped Weatherfield for a new life in France, after marrying Jesse Chadwick, played by the comedian John Thomson.

What’s next for Helen is as yet unknown but you can take a look at what the bookies think here.

Get the latest headlines, straight to your inbox, with The LEP’s free emailsor the Blackpool Gazette’s free emails

Personal life

When Helen was only twenty, her mother was tragically killed in a hit-and-run road accident.

Aged 30, she married actor Micahel Angelis on January 18 1991 but they divorced in 2001 after Michael had the second affair

On April 6 2013, Helen married a primary school teacher called Trevor Dawson and they live together in London currently.

She has also vocally supported many charities throughour her career, particularly ActionAid and the Born Free Foundation, which works to protect wild animals.