Hilda Ogden

Hilda Ogden is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, one of the best-known of all the regular characters in the serial, whose name became synonymous with a classic hard-working Northern working-class woman. She was played by Jean Alexander from 1964 to 1987. For much of her period as a character in the Street, Hilda worked as cleaner of the Rovers Return Inn. A gossip and busybody, many of her storylines were used for comedic purposes, though the character was equally used for dramatic effect; a scene in which she wept over the spectacles of her recently deceased husband Stan (Bernard Youens) has been hailed as one of the most moving images in television history. Alexander quit the role of Hilda in 1987 after 23 years. She reprised the role twice afterwards; in 1990 for a one-off appearance as part of an ITV Telethon and in 1998 for a spin-off video. One of the serial's most popular characters, Hilda was voted the greatest TV character in a Radio Times poll of over 5,000 people. The typical appearance of Hilda, wearing hair curlers and a head scarf, has inspired art and catwalk themes. Despite various producers expressing their desire to see the character return, Alexander was openly critical about the direction Coronation Street had taken, vowing never to reprise the role of Hilda again. Alexander had previously appeared in 1962 as Mrs. Webb, the landlady of Joan Akers (Anna Cropper), who abducted baby Christopher Hewitt (Stephen Ward).