Madge Hindle (born Madge Railton; 19 May 1938) is an English actress, known for her roles in British television shows.

Career

Hindle was born in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. Her break came when her friend, playwright

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and tw ...

, asked her to appear in his 1966 BBC comedy series ''

On the Margin ''On the Margin'' was a British satirical comedy sketch show written and performed by Alan Bennett and a regular cast including John Sergeant, Virginia Stride, Madge Hindle and Yvonne Gilan. Guest performers included John Fortune and Jonathan M ...

''.BBC - Comedy - Shows A-Z Index
/ref> From 1968 to 1973, she played the role of Lily Tattersall on the series ''

Nearest and Dearest ''Nearest and Dearest'' is a British television sitcom that ran from 1968 to 1973. A total of 45 episodes were made, 18 in monochrome (black & white) and 27 in colour. The series, produced by ITV Granada, Granada Television for the ITV (TV netw ...

''. When the series' director,

Bill Podmore Edgar William Podmore (15 August 1931 – 22 January 1994) was a British television producer. Born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, he is best remembered for his long association with the soap opera ''Coronation Street'', a series he produced fo ...

, took over as producer of ''

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 ...

'', he thought of her when he created the role of the feisty shopkeeper,

Renee Bradshaw Irene "Renee" Roberts (also Bradshaw) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street'', played by Madge Hindle. The character was created by producer Bill Podmore as a new shop keeper. He wanted a mature female t ...

. Hindle joined the cast as Renee Bradshaw in 1976. In 1978, Renee was married to the character

Alf Roberts Alfred Sidney "Alf" Roberts, OBE is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street'', played by Bryan Mosley. He ran a grocery shop at No. 15 and was involved in local politics, including two spells as mayor of ...

(

Bryan Mosley Bryan Mosley (25 August 1931 – 9 February 1999) was a British actor, best known for his role as grocer Alf Roberts in the long-running ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Early life Mosley was born in Leeds, an only child, to Agnes Basquil ...

). However, in 1980, Renee was killed when her car was struck by a lorry. Hindle remains philosophical about her character's death in ''Coronation Street'', saying that if they had to write her out, at least they killed her. She appeared in two of

's television plays: ''Sunset Across the Bay'' (1975) and ''Intensive Care'' (1982). She worked in several productions with

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as '' Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', and ''Open All Hours''. ...

, playing the governor's secretary Mrs Hesketh in the BBC sitcom ''

Porridge Porridge is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, (dried) fruit or syrup to make a sweet cereal, ...

'' and made two appearances in ''

Open All Hours ''Open All Hours'' is a British television sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke for the BBC. It ran for 26 episodes in four series, which aired in 1976, 1981, 1982 and 1985. The programme developed from a television pilot broadcast in Ronni ...

'', another Barker sitcom. She co-starred with Barker in ''

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from April 1971 to December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, seria ...

'' 1976 TV film The Picnic and the 1982 sequel '' By the Sea.'' Hindle had a recurring role in the 1990s comedy series '' Barbara'', a role until 2003.

Personal life

In addition to being an actress, Hindle was Mayoress of

when her mother became Mayor. Her daughter, Charlotte Hindle, was a presenter on the Saturday morning children's show ''

Get Fresh ''Get Fresh'' is a children's television programme that originally aired from 1986 to 1988 in the United Kingdom. Format A Saturday-morning kids' TV show, broadcast on the Children's ITV network, the show featured Gareth Jones (aka Gaz Top), ...

'' and later a producer of

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

's show ''

Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns sung in churches of varying denominations from around the UK. The series was first broadcast in October 1961. On that occasion, the venue was the Ta ...

''. Hindle is the Honorary Vice-President of Blackburn Arts Club, an amateur dramatic society. She now lives with her husband, Michael, near

Settle Settle or SETTLE may refer to: Places * Settle, Kentucky, United States * Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England ** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district Music * Settle (band), an indie rock band from Pennsylvania * ''S ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hindle, Madge 1938 births Living people People from Blackburn English television actresses English soap opera actresses English women in politics