Anne Reid

Anne Reid is an English actress whose career has spanned television, film and theater. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, she trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before working in repertory theater. Her first major role was Valerie Barlow in Coronation Street, which she played from 1961 to 1971. She later became known for Jean in dinnerladies from 1998 to 2000 and for Celia Dawson in Last Tango in Halifax from 2012 to 2020, earning BAFTA Television Award nominations for that role and for The Sixth Commandment. On film, she voiced Wendolene Ramsbottom in A Close Shave (1995) and was named British Actress of the Year by the London Film Critics' Circle for The Mother (2003), which also earned her a BAFTA nomination. Her other films include Cemetery Junction (2010) and Song for Marion (2012). She was appointed MBE in 2010 and CBE in 2025 for services to drama.