Christine Hargreaves
Christine Hargreaves | |
---|---|
Hargreaves as Christine Appleby in Coronation Street | |
Born | Salford, Greater Manchester, England | 22 March 1939
Died | 9 August 1984[a] Fitzrovia, London, England | (aged 45)
Other names | Christine Voormann |
Alma mater | Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1958–1984 |
Known for | Role of Christine Hardman in Coronation Street (1960–1963) |
Spouse | |
Children | 1 |
Christine Hargreaves (22 March 1939 – 9 August 1984)[a] was an English actress. She was known for her role of Christine Hardman in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street (1960–1963).
Early life
[edit]Christine Hargreaves was born in Salford, Greater Manchester, England on 22 March 1939,[1] as the third child to John 'Jack' Hargreaves,[2][3] a wholesale grocer and provision merchants traveller, and his second wife,[4] Jessie (née Walter),[5][6][7][8] a domestic worker. She had three siblings; Ann Knowles (née Hargreaves),[9][10] Robert Christopher Hargreaves, and Ian W Hargreaves. She also had two half-siblings, Dorothy Hubbard (née Hargreaves) and Sergeant John Alfred Hargreaves,[11] from her father's first marriage[12] to Phyllis (née Barlow),[13][14] who died during the birth of her half-brother, John, in 1923, at the age of 23; John was killed in action in Heiteren, Haut-Rhin, France, in 1944, aged 20, during the Second World War.[15][16]
Hargreaves was close friends with the playwright Shelagh Delaney during her school years.[citation needed]
Career
[edit]Hargreaves trained in acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She graduated with her Honours Diploma in 1958.[17] She went on to tour as an understudy with The Old Vic.[18][19] She worked in repertory theatre in Richmond, Bolton and Lytham St Annes.[citation needed]
Hargreaves made her television debut with the role of Christine Hardman in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She was one of the first actors to read for Tony Warren's new script 'Florizel Street' (later renamed Coronation Street). She played the character in the dry runs, before the show was even commissioned for broadcast, alongside Pat Phoenix (Elsie Tanner) and Doris Speed (Annie Walker), among others.[20][21] She appeared in the first ever episode, which was broadcast on 9 December 1960.[22] As a result of the Equity actors strike, she was unable to have her contract renewed and ended up leaving the show in December 1961, as did many other other cast members of the time. She briefly returned and left the serial in episode 267, which was broadcast on 3 July 1963.[23]
Hargreaves made her film debut with the role of Linda Rich in the second feature comedy film Strictly for the Birds. The film was directed by Vernon Sewell and released on 29 March 1964.[24] She portrayed Kath in the drama film The Reckoning (1970).[25] She portrayed Doreen in the drama film The Hireling (1973).[26] She portrayed Mrs. Butterworth in It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet, the 1976 sequel to the 1975 film All Creatures Great and Small.[27] She portrayed Ticket Lady in the comedy horror film An American Werewolf in London (1981).[28] She portrayed Pink's Mother in the live-action/animated musical surrealist drama film Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982).[29]
Hargreaves portrayed Dawn on the seventh episode in the second series of the ITV sitcom Pardon the Expression, made by Granada Television. The episode, "Big Hotel", was broadcast on 21 February 1966. The series was one of four spin-offs from Coronation Street.[30]
Personal life
[edit]Hargreaves "secretly" married Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann, a German artist and musician, at Hampstead Register Office in London on 29 November 1965.[31][32][33] They split their time between their home, 65 Pepys Road, Wimbledon, London, and their cottage, 115 Heath Street, Hampstead.[34] As they travelled to West Berlin often to visit her in-laws, she decided to learn how to speak the German language. She took lessons for several weeks, but failed to picked up her husband's mother tongue. Speaking on this, she said: "The trouble is my husband is absolutely no help at all. He doesn't like speaking German, and he won't use anything but English at home."[35] She became close friends with the rock band The Beatles and their manager Brian Epstein.[36][37][38] She was partially close friends with some of the band members partners, including Cynthia Powell, Maureen Cox, Pattie Boyd, Yoko Ono, Linda Eastman, May Pang, and Olivia Arias. The couple separated in 1971, after five years of marriage. While not legally separated, her estranged husband moved out of their home to live at George Harrison's Friar Park in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.[39] During their marriage, she was known as Christine Voorman, reverting back to her maiden name in 1973.[citation needed]
In January 1975, Hargreaves gave birth to her only child, a daughter, Rosie Weeks Hargreaves.[40] Speculation arouse as to whether her daughter had been fathered by her husband, whom, at the time, she had been separated from for over three years, as birth records show her daughter was first registered under the name of Christine Voormann,[41] however, it was said that she had denied these rumours.[citation needed] A single mother, she raised her daughter on Social Security for a year.[42]
Death
[edit]Hargreaves died "peacefully" at University College Hospital in Fitzrovia, London, on 9 August 1984,[a] following a brain operation. She was 45.[43][44][45] Her death was registered in Camden.[46] Her death was announced to the public three days later, on 12 August 1984.[47]
Hargreaves' funeral service and committal took place at Peel Green Crematorium in Eccles on 16 August 1984.[48] Only a handful of her family and friends were in attendance.[49] The cast of Coronation Street sent a wreath.[50]
On 26 September 1984, an inquest was told that she died from a spontaneous brain haemorrhage. They also heard how her nine-year-old daughter had found her mother unconscious. A verdict of natural causes were recorded by the St Pancras Coroner, Dr. Douglas Chambers, having been told she had undergone surgery for a brain haemorrhage three years prior to her death. Her sister, Ann Knowles, told the coroner that her sister had periodically suffered from fits.[51][52][53][54]
Hargreaves' probate was opened in Oxford on 16 November 1984, totalling £56,296.[55]
Filmography
[edit]Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1960 | Coronation Street: First Dry Run | Christine Hardman (later Appleby) | Pilot episode |
1960–1963 | Coronation Street | 122 episodes | |
1962, 1964, 1967, 1969, 1971–1972, 1978 | Z-Cars | Fran Edgar, Doris Harvey, Jackie, Zelda, Marjorie Kovacs, Miss Armstrong, Maggie, Dotty Kardar | 9 episodes |
1962, 1964 | Play of the Week | Alice Hobson, Barmaid | 2 episodes |
1963 | Suspense | Rita | Episode: "Two Bits of Iron" |
1963 | Friday Night | Barbara, Jo Page | 2 episodes |
1964 | Strictly for the Birds | Linda Rich | |
1964 | Story Parade | Marigold | Episode: "Brake Pedal Down" |
1964 | Drama 61-67 | Anita | Episode: "Drama '64: The Big Toe" |
1965 | The Villains | Delia Graham | Episode: "Sonny" |
1965 | Out of the Unknown | Monica Wilkes | Episode: "Come Buttercup, Come Daisy, Come......?" |
1966 | Pardon the Expression | Dawn | Episode: "Big Hotel" |
1967–1968, 1970 | The Wednesday Play | Mary Winter, Doreen, Jane Evans, Jenny Bates | 4 episodes |
1967 | Softly, Softly | Terry | Episode: "The Investors" |
1967 | The Fellows | Jean | Episode: "No Cage for This Bird" |
1967 | Send Foster | Mrs. Simpson | Episode: "The Peg" |
1967 | Inheritance | Winnie Shaw, Winnie Morcar | 2 episodes |
1968 | The War of Dickie Pilbeam | Marie Pilbeam | 3 episodes |
1969 | Sunday Night Theatre | Sheila | Episode: "Bangelstein's Boys" |
1969 | The First Lady | Sylvia | Episode: "Blow Hot, Blow Cold" |
1969, 1972 | Dear Mother...Love Albert | Gillian Jones, Moira | 6 episodes |
1969 | Omnibus | Chrissey Evans | Episode: "The Confessions of Marian Evans/George Eliot" |
1970, 1972, 1978, 1981 | Play for Today | Cynthia Nicholls, Joan Huntley, Pauline, Mrs. James, Estelle Parsons | 5 episodes |
1970 | The Reckoning | Kath | |
1970 | The Doctors | Mrs. Pike | 3 episodes |
1972 | Horace | Ivy Blackett | Television film |
1972, 1976 | Softly, Softly: Task Force | Mrs. Taylor, Jean Marshall | 2 episodes |
1973 | And All Who Sail in Her | Gloria | Television film |
1973 | Putting on the Agony | Phyllis | Television film |
1973 | The Hireling | Doreen | |
1973 | Shabby Tiger | Olga Kepple | 4 episodes |
1973 | Love Story | Beryl | Episode: "The String-Tying Machine" |
1975 | The Venturers | Jane Carter | Episode: "Sentimental Journey" |
1976 | It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet | Mrs. Butterworth | |
1976, 1978, 1982 | Crown Court | Doreen Grimwade, Eva Scott, Nora Docherty | 7 episodes |
1976 | Play of the Month | Episode: "Chester Mystery Cycle" | |
1977 | For the Love of Albert | Various | 4 episodes |
1978 | Send in the Girls | Rosemary | Episode: "A Hardy Breed of Girl" |
1978 | A Horseman Riding By | Gloria Pitts | 2 episodes |
1979 | In Loving Memory | Edna Fletcher | Episode: "Come Back Little Malcolm" |
1980, 1982–1983 | Juliet Bravo | Vera Galway, Selina Tully, Norah Morton | 3 episodes |
1981 | An American Werewolf in London | Ticket Lady | |
1982 | BBC2 Playhouse | Fran | Episode: "Jake's End" |
1982 | Pink Floyd – The Wall | Pink's Mother | |
1982 | Playhouse | Mum | Episode: "Grandad" |
1982 | Break Point | Mrs. Grieves | 4 episodes |
1983 | Walter | Rita | Television film |
1983 | Women | Episode: "The Clarion Van" | |
1983 | The Gathering Seed | Lizzie Scanlon | 5 episodes |
1983 | Spyship | Jean Williams | 3 episodes |
1984 | Miracles Take Longer | Sharon Driver | 2 episodes |
1984 | Charlie | Mo Allen | Episode: "In the Days of His Youth" |
Posthumous releases
[edit]Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1984 | Mitch | Mrs. Goosey | Episode: "Something Private" |
1984 | Nineteen Eighty-Four | Soup Lady | |
1985 | Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV | Pat's Mother | Episode: "Epsiode #1.1" |
1985 | 1919 |
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007: APR 1939 8d 678 SALFORD — Christine Hargreaves
- ^ "page 6". Newspapers.com. Leicester Mercury. 27 January 1964. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 14". Newspapers.com. Leicester Mercury. 27 January 1964. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005: OCT 1932 8d 614 SALFORD — John Hargreaves = Jessie Walter
- ^ "page 22". Newspapers.com. Manchester Evening News. 23 December 1978. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 52". Newspapers.com. Manchester Evening News. 23 December 1978. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 4". Newspapers.com. Manchester Evening News. 30 December 1978. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 24". Newspapers.com. Manchester Evening News. 30 December 1978. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "Ann KNOWLES". gov.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "Ann Knowles | Deceased Estates". The Gazette. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "WE REMEMBER JOHN ALFRED HARGREAVES". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005: JAN 1921 8d 667 PRESTWICH — John Hargreaves = Phyllis Barlow
- ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915: JUL 1900 8d 391 PRESTWICH — Phyllis Barlow
- ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007: OCT 1923 8d 431 PRESTWICH — Phyllis Hargreaves
- ^ "Hadley - Hunter". RAF 166 Squadron. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "Heiteren Communal Cemetery". World War Two Cemeteries - A photographic guide to the cemeteries and memorials of WW2. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "Christine Hargreaves". RADA. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 4". Newspapers.com. The Bolton News. 10 November 1958. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 5". Newspapers.com. The Bolton News. 24 January 1959. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ Nown, Graham (1985). Coronation Street 25 Years. Ward Lock. ISBN 0-7063-6405-8.
- ^ Little, Daran (1995). The Coronation Street Story. Boxtree. ISBN 1-85283-464-1.
- ^ Little, Daran (1992). Weatherfield Life: A Portrait of the Street 1902–1992. Boxtree. ISBN 1-85283-186-3.
- ^ "Christine Hargreaves". BFI. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "Strictly for the Birds". BFI. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "Reckoning, The (1970)". Nostalgia Central. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "Christine Hargreaves". TV Insider. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "It Shouldn't Happen To A Vet cast and crew credits". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "An American Werewolf in London". BFI Southbank Programme Notes. 3 July 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "Pink Floyd The Wall (1982)". BFI. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "Full Pardon The Expression cast and crew credits". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005: OCT 1965 5b 1577 HAMPSTEAD — Christine Hargreaves = Klaus O W Voormann
- ^ "page 18". Newspapers.com. Leicester Mercury. 1 December 1965. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 13". Newspapers.com. Evening Standard. 25 January 1966. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 3". Newspapers.com. Manchester Evening News. 15 April 1967. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 6". Newspapers.com. Manchester Evening News. 29 June 1968. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 1". Newspapers.com. Daily Mirror. 20 March 1971. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 1". Newspapers.com. Manchester Evening News. 20 March 1971. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 1". Newspapers.com. Liverpool Daily Post (Merseyside ed.). 20 March 1971. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ Voormann, Christina (17 July 2024). "George's Magic Garden". Klaus Voormann. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007: JAN 1975 12 2321 HAMPSTEAD — Rosie Weeks Hargreaves
- ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007: JAN 1975 12 2321 HAMPSTEAD — Christine Voormann
- ^ "page 27". Newspapers.com. Sunday Mirror. 29 January 1978. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- ^ "page 14". Newspapers.com. Manchester Evening News. 14 August 1984. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 11". Newspapers.com. Manchester Evening News. 15 August 1984. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 5". Newspapers.com. Telegraph and Argus. 15 August 1984. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007: SEP 1984 14 1855 CAMDEN — Christine Hargreaves
- ^ "page 17". Newspapers.com. The Sunday People. 19 August 1984. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 54". Newspapers.com. Manchester Evening News. 14 August 1984. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 13". Newspapers.com. Daily Mirror. 17 August 1984. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 5". Newspapers.com. Telegraph and Argus. 17 August 1984. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 2". Newspapers.com. Manchester Evening News. 26 September 1984. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 50". Newspapers.com. Manchester Evening News. 26 September 1984. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 5". Newspapers.com. Evening Standard. 26 September 1984. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "page 13". Newspapers.com. Daily Mirror. 27 September 1984. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995: 1984 — Christine Hargreaves
- ^ "Christine Hargreaves". BBC. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "Christine Hargreaves". BFI. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "Christine Hargreaves". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "Christine Hargreaves". TV Guide. Retrieved 27 June 2025.