Alma Halliwell
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| Coronation Street character | ||||||||||||
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| Alma Halliwell | ||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Amanda Barrie | |||||||||||
| Duration | 1981–1982, 1988–2001 | |||||||||||
| First appearance | 22 June 1981 | |||||||||||
| Last appearance | 17 June 2001 | |||||||||||
| Profile | ||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 18 October 1944 | |||||||||||
| Date of death | 17 June 2001 (aged 56) | |||||||||||
| Status | Deceased | |||||||||||
| Occupation | Caterer | |||||||||||
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Alma Halliwell (previously Sedgewick and Baldwin ), played by Amanda Barrie, was a fictional character on the ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Alma was featured as a recurring character from 1981-1982; however, she was reintroduced as a regular in 1988. She remained in the show for a further 13 years, featuring in high-profile storylines such as a problematic marriage to the long-running character Mike Baldwin, kidnapping, and a supermarket siege. Amanda Barrie decided to leave the serial in 2001, and Alma was killed off in a controversial cervical cancer storyline. Barrie has been critical about the producers' decision to kill Alma in such a way and cancer organisations also highlighted inaccuracies with the plot; however, the storyline did have a positive impact on female viewers, resulting in a significant increase in smear testing in the UK.[1]
[edit] Character creation and development
Alma was introduced in 1981 as a recurring/guest character, the wife of café proprietor Jim Sedgewick. The role saw the return to mainstream television for actress Amanda Barrie, who was previously best known to viewers for her roles in the British Carry On films. Barrie played the character in a recurring role for several years, and then, after a long hiatus, she was asked to return as a regular character, Alma taking over control of the café she was given in her divorce settlement from Jim. Barrie has recalled that her first scene was opposite a Coronation Street "legend", Elsie Tanner, played by Pat Phoenix: "She came for a job at the café and I had to tell her she couldn't have one. that was quite scary. It was my first episode but i didn't think the Street took me to its heart because i wasn't called for another eight years. By that time, Jim had gone - I never actually met him!"[2] After Alma's reintroduction as a regular, the British press labelled her as "the next Elsie Tanner", a comparison that Barrie refuted: "I think they always do that. There was only one Elsie Tanner, and I think they will go on looking."[2]
The character went into a business patnership with Gail Tilsey (Helen Worth), formed a close friendship with Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls), and had several romantic relationships most notably with Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs).
[edit] Storylines
Alma Halliwell was first introduced in 1981 as the wife of cafe owner Jim Sedgewick. The marriage was a disaster, and when Alma fell pregnant a year later she had an abortion rather than bring a child into their loveless home. Alma's character took over Jim's Café after they divorced in 1982. She emigrated to Florida for a while with a pools winner named Phillip, but when he squandered the money Alma returned to Weatherfield. The character properly began to make an impact when she took a more active role in the management of the café in the latter part of 1988. This was the beginning of a long-running working relationship with Gail Tilsley, who became Alma's business partner in 1989, until Alma sold her share of the café to Roy Cropper in 1996.
Despite a tempestuous on-off relationship with Mike Baldwin which became a marriage from 1992 until 1999, Alma never had a family but was often the motherly, sympathetic, liberal-minded character in many storylines, particularly off-setting her husband's often harsh and high-minded attitudes.
Alma's most dramatic storylines included her relationships with Mike, Mike's nemesis Ken Barlow, Stephen Reid (son of Audrey Roberts and half brother of Gail), and Don Brennan. Although never a romantic relationship, Alma felt sympathy for Don after Mike sold him a garage business at a knowingly inflated price to then sit back and watched him go bankrupt. Don eventually had a breakdown, becoming obsessed with revenge on Mike. After attempting to frame Mike for arson and insurance fraud, he kidnapped Alma, driving her into the river in his taxi. His last act was to steal Alma's car and drive into the viaduct at the end of Coronation Street, killing himself.
In 2001, Alma was also involved in the Freshco supermarket siege, coincidentally along with Mike and Ken amongst others, in which a gunman was shot dead by the police.
Alma was also responsible for bringing together the lonely hearts, Roy Cropper and (transsexual) Hayley Patterson, who continue to run the relocated and renamed café business into 2007.
In May 2001, Alma discovered that due to a missed smear test and a further misdiagnosis, she was stricken with inoperable cervical cancer. The illness claimed her life within weeks; she died at Audrey's home in Grasmere Drive on 17 June 2001, aged 56.
[edit] References
- ^ "Was Alma's death in Coronation Street believable?", The Answer Bank. Retrieved on 2008-05-24.
- ^ a b Mike Heatley. "AMANDA BARRIE", Coronation Street Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-05-24.
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