Helen Worth

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Helen Worth

MBE
Born
Cathryn Helen Wigglesworth

(1951-01-07) 7 January 1951 (age 72)
Ossett, West Riding of Yorkshire, England [1]
OccupationActress
Years active1961–present
Television Coronation Street (1974–present)
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1991;div. 2001)​
Trevor Dawson
​
(m. 2013)​

Helen Worth MBE (born Cathryn Helen Wigglesworth; 7 January 1951) is an English actress. She is best known for portraying the role of Gail Platt in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street , a role that she has played since 1974. In 2014, she received the British Soap Award for Outstanding Achievement.

Contents

Early life

Cathryn Helen Wigglesworth was born to Alfred and Gladys Wigglesworth in Ossett and grew up in Morecambe, Lancashire. She was brought up in a middle-class family and attended private school. [2] When she was eight her parents fostered Ghanaian-born Wilson Kpikpitse, who was sent to England as an overseas student at the age of eleven and remained with the family for eight years, but moved on following the death of Worth's mother, who was killed in a hit-and-run road accident while she was on a visit to Brighton. [3]

Career

After graduating from drama school, Worth worked in repertory theatre, which included a year with the BBC Radio repertory company. She has had uncredited bit-parts in the films Oliver! (1968) and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969), and appeared on television in the Doctor Who story Colony in Space (1971), The Doctors , Helen: A Woman of Today (1973), Within These Walls (1974) and The Carnforth Practice (1974). She joined Coronation Street in 1974 and has remained with the soap since then. [4]

Worth has stated that she does not plan to leave Coronation Street, saying she's happy with Gail's never-ending drama, and that it's a job she loves. In an interview with GMTV in January 2010, Worth said she loves Gail's storylines and praised the writers for giving her some great plots over the years, and which she hopes will continue. [5] On 9 June 2014, a one-off special about Worth, Gail & Me, aired on ITV. The 30-minute documentary celebrated Worth's 40 years as Gail. [4]

Personal life

Worth has a house in London. She married actor Michael Angelis at Chelsea Register Office on 18 January 1991. [6] Worth forgave Angelis when he admitted to an affair in 1995, but they divorced in 2001 [7] after he had another affair with model Jennifer Khalastchi. [8] Following this, it was mistakenly reported by The Sun newspaper that Worth was dating London restaurant owner Simon Hopkinson. [9]

Charity work

Worth is a patron of the Born Free Foundation, an international wildlife charity working throughout the world to stop individual wild animal suffering and protect threatened species in the wild. She appeared on television fronting campaigns and joined them at the House of Commons in 2006, to speak about the proposed changes to the Animal Welfare Bill and campaign for the retirement of Anne, the UK's last remaining circus elephant. [10]

She is a supporter of the charity ActionAid and has visited Sierra Leone in support of its work there. [11]

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1963 Z-Cars MaisieEpisode: "By the Book", credited as Helen Wiggleworth)
1968 Oliver! UrchinUncredited
1969 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie SchoolgirlUncredited
1969A Handful of ThievesRosieRecurring role
1970ConfessionCynthiaEpisode: "Just as the Sun Was Rising"
1970 The Doctors Elsie Gibbs
1971 Doctor Who Mary Ashe Colony in Space
1971–1972Time of Your LifePauline JacksonMain role
1972The Strauss FamilyElsaEpisode: "Schanni"
1973Helen: A Woman of TodayMandy2 episodes
1974 Within These Walls BettyEpisode: "The Group"
1974 ITV Sunday Night Theatre Susan PittEpisode: "No Harm Done"
1974The Carnforth PracticeAnn PollockEpisode: "Undue Influence"
1974–present Coronation Street Gail Platt Regular role; 3,936+ episodes
1981 Peter-No-Tail Molly SilknoseFilm
2010 East Street Gail Platt

Awards and nominations

YearAssociationCategoryWorkResult
2006 Inside Soap Awards Outstanding Achievement Award Coronation Street role as Gail Platt Won
2014 British Soap Awards Outstanding Achievement AwardCoronation Street as Gail PlattWon
2019 British Soap Awards Scene of the YearCoronation Street as Gail PlattWon
2019 BAFTA TV Awards Must-See Moment Coronation Street as Gail PlattNominated

Worth has been honoured twice with the Outstanding Achievement Award at awards ceremonies for her performance as Gail in Coronation Street. In September 2006, Worth won the "Outstanding Achievement Award" at the Inside Soap Awards. Then, on 25 May 2014, Worth won the "Outstanding Achievement Award" at 2014 British Soap Awards. [12] Worth received the British Soap Award for Scene of the Year in 2019 for a monologue she performed, which was also nominated for a BAFTA TV Award.

Worth was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to drama. [13]

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References

  1. ↑ Crawford, Sue (7 March 2010). "Coronation Street's Gail in Jail: Helen Worth on soap's hottest story". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  2. ↑ Crawford, Sue (7 March 2010). "Coronation Street's Gail in Jail: Helen Worth on soap's hottest story". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  3. ↑ Rimmer, Alan. "Long-lost secret brother of Coronation Street star Helen". Sunday Mirror . Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Gail & Me". ITV Press Centre (Press release). 30 May 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  5. ↑ Rimmer, Alan (26 September 2006). "Rival soaps tie on awards night". BBC . Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  6. ↑ Ziemer, Laurette (18 January 1991). "Street's Gail Tilsey weds". Evening Standard . p. 20. Retrieved 28 December 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Crawford, Sue (7 March 2010). "Coronation Street's Gail in Jail: Helen Worth on soap's hottest story". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  8. ↑ "Coronation Street's Helen Worth talks for the first time about her marriage break-up sadness". Daily Mirror . 12 March 2001. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  9. ↑ Eva Wiseman (18 July 2009). "Helen Worth on Simon Hopkinson". The Guardian . Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  10. ↑ "Helen Worth". Born Free. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  11. ↑ "Helen Worth in Sierra Leone for ActionAid". Coronation Street Blog. 14 October 2009. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  12. ↑ Profile, itv.com. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "No. 63714". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 2022. p. B26.
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