Helen Worth
Encyclopedia
Helen Worth is an English
actress, best known for her portrayal of the Coronation Street
character Gail McIntyre
, Wakefield
, West Riding of Yorkshire
, and grew up in Morecambe
, Lancashire
, where her parents ran a small seafront hotel
. She was brought up in a middle class
family and attended private school
. At the age of eight her parents fostered Ghana
ian born Wilson Kpikpitse. Kpikpitse — sent to Britain as an overseas student at the age of eleven — 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
.
Worth's grandmother lived in Bradford
and ran a boarding house for music hall
performers, which prompted her desire to perform. She took dancing lessons from the age of three, and took part in many school theatrical productions. At the age of ten, she read stories on Granada Television
's Scene at 6.30, and appeared in an episode of BBC
's Z-Cars
. At the age of twelve she played one of the von Trapp children in a stage production of The Sound of Music
, at the Palace Theatre
in London
, a role that kept her in London for nine months. Following this she returned to Morecambe to finish her education and later attended the Corona Theatre School
in London.
repertory company. She has had roles in films such as Oliver!
and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
(1969), and has appeared on television in 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 been with the soap ever since. Since arriving on the Street as Gail Potter, Worth's character has married four times, has had three children and has been involved in some of the soap's biggest storylines, including a marriage to the serial killer, Richard Hillman
, who at one stage attempted to kill her entire family.
In September 2006 Helen Worth was honoured with an Outstanding Achievement award at the Inside Soap Awards
for her performance as Gail in Coronation Street, a role she has played for over 30 years. Recently, Helen has said she plans never to quit the 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, Helen 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
and also has a house in Chelsea, London
. She married actor Michael Angelis
in 1991, and had previously lived with him for several years. Worth forgave Angelis when he admitted to an affair in 1995, but they split in 2001 after he strayed again with model, Jennifer Khalastchi. Following this Worth began dating London restaurant owner Simon Hopkinson.
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 appears 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
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actress, best known for her portrayal of the Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
character Gail McIntyre
Early life
Worth was born to parents Alfred and Gladys Wigglesworth in OssettOssett
Ossett is a market town within the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on junction 40 of the M1 motorway, half-way between Dewsbury, to the west, and Wakefield, to the east. In the 2001 census, it was classified as part of the West Yorkshire...
, Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
, West Riding of Yorkshire
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
, and grew up in Morecambe
Morecambe
Morecambe is a resort town and civil parish within the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. As of 2001 it has a resident population of 38,917. It faces into Morecambe Bay...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, where her parents ran a small seafront hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
. She was brought up in a middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
family and attended private school
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
. At the age of eight her parents fostered Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
ian born Wilson Kpikpitse. Kpikpitse — sent to Britain as an overseas student at the age of eleven — 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
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
.
Worth's grandmother lived in Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
and ran a boarding house for music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
performers, which prompted her desire to perform. She took dancing lessons from the age of three, and took part in many school theatrical productions. At the age of ten, she read stories on Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
's Scene at 6.30, and appeared in an episode of BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Z-Cars
Z-Cars
Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
. At the age of twelve she played one of the von Trapp children in a stage production of The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
, at the Palace Theatre
Palace Theatre, London
The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. It is an imposing red-brick building that dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus and is located near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, a role that kept her in London for nine months. Following this she returned to Morecambe to finish her education and later attended the Corona Theatre School
Corona Theatre School
Corona Stage Academy was a successful British drama school founded by Rona Knight in the mid 1940s. The school started in Chiswick before later moving to 16 Ravenscourt Avenue, Hammersmith in 1955. The school produced many top names of the British stage and screen, but it closed in 1989 following...
in London.
Career
After graduating from drama school, Worth worked in repertory theatre, which included a year with the BBC RadioBBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
repertory company. She has had roles in films such as Oliver!
Oliver! (film)
Oliver! is a 1968 British musical film directed by Carol Reed. The film is based on the stage musical Oliver!, with book, music and lyrics written by Lionel Bart. The screenplay was written by Vernon Harris....
and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (film)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a 1969 drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Muriel Spark.The novel was turned into a play by Jay Presson Allen, which opened on Broadway in 1968, with Zoe Caldwell in the title role, a performance for which she won a Tony Award...
(1969), and has appeared on television in Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
story Colony in Space
Colony in Space
Colony in Space is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in 6 weekly parts from April 10 to May 15, 1971.- Synopsis :...
(1971), The Doctors, Helen: A Woman of Today (1973), Within These Walls
Within These Walls
Within These Walls is a British television drama programme made by London Weekend Television for ITV and shown between 1974 and 1978. It portrayed life in HMP Stone Park, a fictional women's prison...
(1974) and The Carnforth Practice (1974).
She joined Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
in 1974 and has been with the soap ever since. Since arriving on the Street as Gail Potter, Worth's character has married four times, has had three children and has been involved in some of the soap's biggest storylines, including a marriage to the serial killer, Richard Hillman
Richard Hillman
Richard Charles Hillman was a fictional character in the British television soap opera Coronation Street, played by Brian Capron. Hillman is now rated as one of the best soap villains of all time.-Development:...
, who at one stage attempted to kill her entire family.
In September 2006 Helen Worth was honoured with an Outstanding Achievement award at the Inside Soap Awards
Inside Soap Awards
The Inside Soap Awards is a yearly award ceremony run by Inside Soap magazine since 1996. The awards celebrate the British and Australian soap operas and their actors. Until 2007, EastEnders had won the award for "Best Soap" on every occasion...
for her performance as Gail in Coronation Street, a role she has played for over 30 years. Recently, Helen has said she plans never to quit the street, saying she's happy with Gail's never ending drama, and that it's a job she loves. In an interview with GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...
in January 2010, Helen 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
Personal life
Worth lives in CheshireCheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
and also has a house in Chelsea, London
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
. She married actor Michael Angelis
Michael Angelis
Michael Angelis is an English actor and voice actor.Michael Angelis was one of the stars of the famous 1982 BBC drama serial Boys from the Black Stuff and another Alan Bleasedale drama G.B.H.. He also starred in comedies such as Luv and The Liver Birds, in which he appeared between series 5 and 9...
in 1991, and had previously lived with him for several years. Worth forgave Angelis when he admitted to an affair in 1995, but they split in 2001 after he strayed again with model, Jennifer Khalastchi. Following this Worth began dating London restaurant owner Simon Hopkinson.
Worth is a patron of the Born Free Foundation
Born Free Foundation
The Born Free Foundation is a conservation and animal rescue organization in the United Kingdom. It originated in 1984 as the "Zoo Check Campaign" by actors Virginia McKenna and her husband Bill Travers along with their son Will Travers and four associates....
, an international wildlife charity working throughout the world to stop individual wild animal suffering and protect threatened species in the wild. She appears on television fronting campaigns and joined them at the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
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
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
.