Norris Cole

Norris Benjamin Cole was born on 5th March 1940. His mother Eunice had put his older half-brother Ramsay up for adoption, but he returned in 1960 after tracking her down. Eunice died the following year, which left a devastated Norris to blame Ramsay, a grudge he held against him for many years.

Norris was a salesman and married Myrtle Hargreaves but later left her and moved in with Derek and Mavis Wilton in the 1990s after picking him up and driving him home when Derek's car broke down. They became rivals and Norris once played a prank on Derek by kidnapping his gnome Arthur and sending ransom notes. When Derek found out after finding Arthur in Norris' cupboard, he drove him to the wrong church on Norris' wedding day to Derek's ex-wife Angela, where Derek was the best man. He attended Derek's funeral in 1997 after he died of a heart attack.

In 1999, Norris reappeared in Coronation Street and having briefly lodged with the Duckworths, he moved in with Emily Bishop and got a job at The Kabin working for Rita Sullivan. Norris became a cowardly gossip and got into scrapes, especially with serial killer Richard Hillman who intended to murder Emily. In 2009, Ramsay came back from Australia after fifty years to make amends, but Norris wasn't having any of it; and Ramsay died later from a brain tumour when returning to Australia. Norris used the money from Ramsay's will to purchase The Kabin from Rita, as she was retiring. However, she has since returned to working at The Kabin. To her disapproval, he briefly renamed The Kabin; "Norris' News", but quickly reverted back to the original name.

1940-1994: Early years
Norris was born on 15th March 1940 to Eunice Gee. In 1960, Norris learned that he had a half-brother named Ramsay Clegg, who was born five years prior to Norris himself but was given up by their mother due to her being single. Ramsay's arrival caused great stress to Eunice as it brought up a past she wanted to forget, and in January 1961 she suddenly passed away. Norris was devastated by his mother's passing and blamed it on the shock of seeing Ramsay, and during the funeral Norris got into a conflict with him. Norris wanted nothing to do with his brother and cut him off, subsequently leading to Ramsay to return to Australia.

At some point afterwards, he met a woman named Myrtle Hargreaves and the pair got married. In March 1994, Norris gave Derek Wilton a lift after he was stranded on a motorway. A grateful Derek told Norris that he would be welcome to visit him in Weatherfield anytime. Taking Derek's advice, Norris left Myrtle and suddenly turned up at Derek's home on Coronation Street unannounced, much to the displeasure of Derek's wife Mavis.

1994-1997: Norris' lucky years
Norris developed a friendly rivalry with Derek Wilton, as Norris was capable of success and luck, whereas Derek was at the bottom. Having divorced Myrtle, Norris set his eyes on Derek’s ex-wife Angela, and the pair married in 1995.

After Derek had passed away suddenly from a heart attack in 1997, Norris broke the news to Mavis. Angela didn’t attend the funeral, with only Norris going in order to represent the Hawthorns. He was late to the funeral service and barged past the coffin, and insensititive to Mavis’ feelings referred to Derek as “Dirk” and mentioned how Mavis had abandoned him on the motorway and forgot his birthday. After the funeral, Norris returned home.

Other information

 * Norris became an unlikely midwife in 2001 when he helped deliver baby Ben Watts.
 * Mary Taylor bought Norris a wig for his seventieth birthday in 2010. However, he didn't wear it (only briefly trying it on in the Rovers' toilets).

Background information

 * Norris was introduced in 1994, and appeared on a recurring basis until 1997. This was mainly due to him not living on the Street and not much of a major character and was normally involved in storylines with rival Derek Wilton. The character was axed in 1997 by Brian Park and last appeared at Derek's funeral. However two years on, he was reintroduced in 1999 on a regular basis, working in The Kabin.
 * Norris wasn't Malcolm Hebden's first role in the series. Twenty years before taking the part of Norris, he played the character of Carlos in 1974. There is a touch of irony in this, as the character proposed to Mavis Riley and was close to marrying her. Mavis later married Derek who was Norris' rival and friend, and Norris also ended up working for Rita Sullivan, Mavis' friend, in The Kabin.
 * On 22nd January 2018, it was revealed that Malcolm Hebden had taken an extended break from filming, after being hospitalised with an illness, and that he would be given as long off as he needed. His last appearance was Episode 9321 on 8th December 2017.

First and last lines
"Might I be right in thinking this is Mr Wilton's residence?" (First line, to Mavis Wilton).