Amanda Barrie
From Free net encyclopedia
Amanda Barrie (born Shirley Ann Broadbent on 14 September 1935 in Ashton-under-Lyne) acted in a number of television and British film roles in the 1960s and 1970s. She was married to Robin Hunter.
She was probably best known for her roles in the Carry On films; an extensive series of British comedy films, perhaps most notably in the title role of "Carry on Cleo", until she was cast as a café proprietor's wife, Alma Sedgewick (later Baldwin), on the British soap opera Coronation Street. She was a bit player in the early to mid 1980s before she was offered a contract in 1988. She played the role until she decided to retire in 2001; in the story, Alma was diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer.
Since leaving Coronation Street, she has continued to act in the popular ITV1 prison series, Bad Girls as well as being one of the celebrities who took part in Hell's Kitchen; a popular ITV1 "reality TV" series (screened in 2004).
Amanda's autobiography It's not a rehearsal has become a best seller since it was published in 2003. Having kept her personal life very private, Amanda decided in her autobiography to be more open about being a lesbian.