Judith Barker (born 22 June 1943) is an English actress, best known for her role in ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'' as the upwardly mobile homewrecker

Janet Reid 1969 saw several new characters making their debuts on ''Coronation Street'', including Betty Williams, Cyril Turpin, Janet Reid, the Butler siblings Sandra and Bernard, Alan Howard, Janice Langton, Edith Tatlock and Ada Broadbent. Janice Lan ...

, which she played between 1969 and 1977. She has been married to

Kenneth Alan Taylor Kenneth Alan Taylor (born 1937) is a British pantomime writer and actor. He is best known for having played the pantomime dame for thirty years in his own productions at Nottingham Playhouse. Career He started writing Pantoes in 1962 in Oldha ...

since 1964. Since her departure from ''Coronation Street'', Barker has mostly been a character actress in television dramas, such as the 1984

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

series '' Scully'' in which she played the teacher Mrs Heath, an exception being her role in ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Br ...

'', playing the role of Audrey Manners during 1995. She appeared in the first series of '' Waterloo Road'' as Estelle Cooper, and had a small role in the film ''

Miss Potter ''Miss Potter'' is a 2006 Biographical film, biographical Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Chris Noonan. It is based on the life of children's author and illustrator Beatrix Potter, and combines stories from her own life with ...

''. It was reported that she declined the premiere for the movie with Renee Zellweger to teach drama at her local school, Saddleworth Drama Centre in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

. Barker reappeared in ''Waterloo Road'' in series 10, playing a different character, Grace. In 2012, she appeared in the second series of ''

Scott & Bailey ''Scott & Bailey'' is a British police procedural series that debuted on ITV on 29 May 2011 and concluded on 27 April 2016. The series stars Suranne Jones, Lesley Sharp, Amelia Bullmore, Nicholas Gleaves, Danny Miller and Pippa Haywood. The sh ...

'' as Dorothy Parsons, the mother of

Lesley Sharp Lesley Sharp is an English stage, film and television actress whose roles on British television include ''Clocking Off'' (2000–2001), '' Bob & Rose'' (2001) and ''Afterlife'' (2005–2006). She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actres ...

's character DC Janet Scott. From 2019 to 2020, she appeared as Agatha Finn in ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...

''. Barker also runs her own drama classes at Springhead Congregational Church, along with choreographer Adele Parry and musical director Dave Bintley. - Saddleworth Drama Centre. Recent achievements have seen her classes performing at the

Oldham Coliseum Theatre Oldham Coliseum Theatre is a theatre in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Found on Fairbottom Street in the town centre, Oldham's Coliseum is a repertory theatre which celebrated its centenary in 1987. Its interior makes it a great period cla ...

Filmography

References

External links

*
Judith Barker profile
1943 births Living people Actresses from Oldham English soap opera actresses English television actresses 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses English film actresses English stage actresses {{England-tv-bio-stub