| Julie Goodyear | |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 March 1942 Heywood, Lancashire, England, U.K. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1966–present |
| Spouse | Ray Sutcliffe (1960–63) (divorced) Tony Rudman (1973–74) (annulled) Richard Skrob (1985–87) Scott Brand (2007–present) |
Julie Goodyear, MBE (born 29 March 1942) is an English television actress and media personality, best known for playing the long-running role of pub landlady Bet Lynch (later Bet Gilroy) on British soap opera Coronation Street.
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Born as Julie Kemp; her parents divorced when she was a toddler, and her mother then married William Goodyear, changing Julie's surname to Goodyear upon her marriage.
Her private life - multiple marriages, scandals, claims of lesbianism - have made her off-screen life as colourful as her on-screen life. Famously, a cartoon appeared in the British newspaper the Daily Mail, which had the director of Coronation Street ripping up the script and saying "Forget the script - just keep talking about your private life."
She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1996 New Year Honours, "For services to Television Drama".[1]
Her autobiography entitled Just Julie was released on 3 November 2006. In it she talks about her relationships with men and women.[2]
In 1979 Julie left Coronation Street for the second of three times after being diagnosed with cervical cancer, something she kept secret from the public for 25 years. Following her private battle she founded a charity which resulted in formation of the Julie Goodyear Cancer Screening Centre.
She is most famous for playing barmaid-turned-proprietor Bet Lynch on the British soap opera Coronation Street. She started playing the role for a brief time in 1966, but left when senior cast member Patricia Phoenix advised her to get some more training. It was at that time she joined Oldham Repertory Theatre.
Goodyear returned in 1970 and played, arguably, the Rovers' most memorable barmaid, until retiring in 1995. Her character made such an iconic impact on the culture that Goodyear has often been referred to as the Queen of British Soap Opera, in parallel to her American contemporary Susan Lucci (Erica Kane on All My Children). In the 1970s, Bet was known for shocking Landlady Annie Walker by wearing provocative clothing, but by the 1980s, her character became synonymous with outrageous leopard prints and a bleached-blonde beehive hairdo.
She quit Coronation Street in 1995, shortly after winning the "Lifetime Achievement Award" for her role as Bet Lynch in the first ever National Television Awards. She returned to the role of Bet in 1999 for the spin-off The Rover Returns.
She made a brief but unsuccessful comeback to the show in the 2002. Her comeback was intended to boost ratings, and the writers had planned to keep her character back in the show permanently, but the pressure of increased recording schedules led to her departure amid reports of ill-health, and she was written out after just a few episodes. She did, however, return to the show again in 2003, though this time she didn't set foot on the cobbles of Coronation Street itself and her appearances were part of a storyline that involved Liz McDonald (Beverly Callard) and her husband Jim (Charles Lawson), who had recently escaped from prison.
In 1996 she signed a deal for commercials for Shredded Wheat. Other work included filming a pilot of The Julie Goodyear Show for Granada, presenting Live Time on the Granada Breeze network, and being a DJ on Manchester Talk Radio. In 2001 she appeared in the BBC television comedy sketch series Revolver. In 2004 she won the first series of the Living TV reality TV show, I'm Famous and Frightened!.
In 2005, she was one of the celebrities taking part in the popular ITV1 reality TV series, Celebrity Fit Club, alongside friend Ken Morley. She was originally made team captain but quit the role after six weeks, the role was taken over by Aldo Zilli. She lost 1 stone 10 pounds, and her team won the show. She shocked everyone at the final weigh-in by announcing that in 1979/80 she was given a year to live, having being diagnosed with cervical cancer, from which she was to make a full recovery.
In 1995 she was the subject of a This is Your Life.
She has also appeared in the reality shows Road Raja, Age Swap, Celebrity Penthouse and Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes as Marlene Dietrich. She had a small role in the British film Tug of War (2006) and in October 2006 played a brief role in Channel 4's Hollyoaks as Mrs. Temple, owner of a B&B. She recently participated in a Coronation Street special Come Dine With Me
In October 2009 it was confirmed that she will be starring in Calendar Girls onstage. She appeared in the show for about three weeks before dropping out due to an unspecified virus.[3]