| Coronation Street past characters | |||
| 1960–1969, | 1970–1979, | 1980–1989, | 1990–1999, |
| 2000–present | |||
The following is a list of fictional characters that appeared in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, departing between 1980 and 1989.
| Contents: | Top · 0–9 · A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
| Fred Gee | |
|---|---|
| Coronation Street character | |
| Portrayed by | Fred Feast |
| First appearance | 29 September 1975 |
| Last appearance | 28 November 1984 |
| Profile | |
| Date of death | c.1998 |
| Occupation | Barman |
Frederick "Fred" Gee was played by Fred Feast for nine years from 1975 to 1984. Fred was a relatively unpleasant and unsympathetic character who arrived on Coronation Street in 1975. He remained as an employee at the Rovers Return until he was fired by Billy Walker in 1984. Fred Gee got through two wives during his time - Edna (Mavis Rogerson) and Eunice (Meg Johnson).
Fred was first introduced into Coronation Street in 1975 after his wife Edna died in a warehouse fire. Shortly after, Annie Walker, landlady of the Rovers Return was ordered by the brewery to take on a resident cellar man after the pub had been broken into. Annie was instantly impressed by the quietly spoken, dapper Fred with his old world charm and impeccable manners. This, like so much else of Fred, was just a front to cover his true self: idle, ignorant and coarse. In 1976 he briefly had a fling with Vera Duckworth and brought her back to the Rovers to have afternoon tea with Annie Walker! Fred was unlikeable and devious, and often did things for the sheer devilment, such as tossing bread on top of Eddie Yeats dustcart to attract pigeons in order to ruin his chances of winning the Best Kept Dust-Cart competition. Despite the fact that he liked to think he was in charge of the pub, Annie dominated him, Bet Lynch ridiculed him and Betty Turpin did nothing to hide her contempt for him. Billy Walker sacked Fred after goading him into punching him. Fred made his last appearance at Stan Ogden's funeral in November 1984. He was never seen or heard from again. In 1999, Eunice Gee returned for a brief time and announced that Fred had died of a heart attack some months previously.
| Renee Roberts | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coronation Street character | |||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Madge Hindle | ||||||||||
| First appearance | 10 May 1976 | ||||||||||
| Last appearance | 30 July 1980 | ||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||
| Date of birth | 3 March 1943 | ||||||||||
| Date of death | 30 July 1980 | ||||||||||
| Occupation | corner shop proprietor | ||||||||||
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Irene "Renee" Roberts (née Bradshaw) was played by Blackburn actress Madge Hindle. Renee, a feisty young woman, bought the corner shop from Maggie Clegg and caused problems in the street by refusing long-standing customers 'tick' (credit) and fighting local landlady Annie Walker in order to obtain a licence to sell drink.
Renee was essentially a lonely woman. She hadn't really bought the shop out of any genuine desire to make money, more to provide a stable environment for her wayward brother Terry, who had never been able to settle down after leaving the army. Renee was hurt when he re-enlisted, feeling her kindness had been thrown back in her face. Alone at the shop, she grew increasingly close to post office employee Alf Roberts. Despite seeming a very odd couple indeed, they married in 1978.
Producer Bill Podmore decided that Renee must be written out, and she was killed when her car was hit by a lorry, having stalled at a red light in a country lane. Although paramedics tried to save her at the scene of the accident, she died shortly afterwards, her spleen perforated by shards of flying glass.