Here Coronation Street writer Damon Rochefort remembers the first time he met the late Betty Driver, who played barmaid Betty Williams and pays tribute to the legendary star who died earlier this month aged 91.
"On first joining Coronation Street, a terrified, inexperienced writer, I found myself standing next to Betty Driver at one of our ‘do’s in the Rovers. A famous actor who was guesting passed and when Betty introduced us, he looked at me rather airily and said: 'Don’t be so nervous. When I started out in this business 30 years ago, I was as green as you'. As he moved on, Betty clocked my embarrassment, and continuing to smile at the departing actor, leaned in and said to me: 'It were 40 years ago, and he were already jaded.'
Of course, I laughed – we both did – and this wonderful lady immediately put me at my ease. As she did the millions of viewers who’ve watched her behind the bar of the Rovers for the last 42 years. Chatting to Corrie fans in recent years, they would invariably be astonished to learn that Betty was in her nineties, still working and still loving it. In fact, in an episode I wrote earlier this year - when Stella first comes to the Rovers for her interview to be manager - I had her register the same astonishment when Steve reveals his longest-serving barmaid is a nonagenarian. Steve spoke for us all when he told Stella: 'Betty’s a fixture. Non-negotiable'. And so she was.
Many people may have been surprised to read in recent obituaries about her incredible career – on stage at eight years old, a movie star, big band singer, household name, Forces sweetheart - only joining Corrie in 1969 when she had retired from showbusiness altogether. And in a world now awash with wanna-be celebrities who demand fame and fortune NOW, to think that this warm, accomplished lady simply did what she did best – entertaining – and did it with style, quiet modesty and a life-affirming cheerfulness, should be a lesson to us all.
The last time I saw her was at another of our do’s at the Rovers. I reminded her how she’d put me at my ease all those years ago. She whacked me on the leg with her walking stick and said: 'Never mind that. When do I get a decent storyline?' Then gave one of those familiar, beautiful, full-throated laughs as she headed out.
You’ll be missed, duck."
See the picture tribute to Betty