Rita May (born 9 May 1942) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Mags in the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

children's drama ''

Children's Ward ''Children's Ward'' (retitled ''The Ward'' from 1995 to 1998) is a British children's television drama series produced by Granada Television and broadcast on the ITV network as part of its ''Children's ITV'' strand on weekday afternoons. The pro ...

'', Margaret in the

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

sitcom ''

Trollied ''Trollied'' is a British sitcom about employees in a fictional supermarket named "Valco", which debuted on Sky One on 4 August 2011 and ended on 23 December 2018. The series was filmed in a purpose-built replica supermarket in the Bottle Yard ...

'', as well as Julie "Nana" Booth in the

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 ...

drama ''

Ackley Bridge ''Ackley Bridge'' is a British comedy-drama series set in a multicultural academy school of the same name. The series is filmed in Halifax, West Yorkshire Halifax () is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdal ...

''.

Career

May began her career as a singer on the

working men's club Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, Midlands, Scotland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class me ...

circuit in and around

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

. She featured in the television adaptation of

Barry Hines Melvin Barry Hines, FRSL (30 June 1939 – 18 March 2016) was an English author, playwright and screenwriter. His novels and screenplays explore the political and economic struggles of working-class Northern England, particularly in his native W ...

's ''

The Price of Coal ''The Price of Coal'' is a two-part television drama written by Barry Hines and directed by Ken Loach first broadcast as part of the ''Play for Today'' series in 1977. Set at the fictional Milton Colliery, near Barnsley in South Yorkshire, the ep ...

'', a ''

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

'' first broadcast in 1977, and as Jimmy Kemp's mother in Hines's scripted nuclear war drama '' Threads'' in 1984. She has also appeared in television series such as ''

Early Doors ''Early Doors'' is a BBC sitcom written by Craig Cash and Phil Mealey. Both writers appear in the series, playing the two characters of 'Joe' and 'Duffy' who are best friends. ''Early Doors'' is set at The Grapes, a small public house in the ...

'' and '' Drop Dead Gorgeous'', and radio programmes including ''

Ed Reardon's Week ''Ed Reardon's Week'' is a sitcom on BBC Radio 4 recorded semi-naturalistically in the style of a radio drama. It concerns the story of a curmudgeonly middle-aged writer described in the show's publicity material as an "author, pipesmoker, consu ...

'' and ''The Blackburn Files''. In 2005, she appeared in one episode of '' Heartbeat''. In March 2009, it was announced that May would appear as Connie Rathbone, a new love interest of

Jack Duckworth John "Jack" Duckworth is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Bill Tarmey. The character debuted on-screen during the episode broadcast on 28 November 1979. Jack was introduced by executive prod ...

, in the

soap opera ''

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 ...

''. From 2011 to 2018, she appeared in the

sitcom ''

'', in which she played Margaret, a supermarket assistant pharmacist. In 2017, May appeared in

drama ''

'' as Julie "Nana" Booth. Her character died in the fourth episode of the series. She later appeared in an episode of the third series of ''Ackley Bridge'' in 2019, as part of a scene with Missy Booth (

Poppy Lee Friar Poppy Lee Friar (born 16 April 1995) is an English actress. She has portrayed television roles including Eve in the CBBC series '' Eve'', Missy Booth in the Channel 4 drama ''Ackley Bridge'' and Lydia in the BBC Three series '' In My Skin''. A ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:May, Rita Living people 1942 births English film actresses English soap opera actresses