Gladys Ambrose

Gladys Ambrose (28th December 1930 - 4th July 1998) appeared on Coronation Street in two roles: firstly as Mrs Hindle, a prospective buyer of 11 Coronation Street when the house was put on the market in November 1979; and she returned to the programme as a Landlady of an address in Bootle, where Eddie Yeats had been briefly lodging since his disappearance from Weatherfield in December 1982.

She also appeared as Mrs Barratt in The Inheritance, an episode of Street spin-off The Brothers McGregor broadcast in March 1987.

Having undertaken singing, dancing and voice projection lessons at the Madam Edith Clarke School in Liverpool, she made her professional debut in the chorus line of Joye de Vivre at the Theatre Royal, Castleford in 1949. While on a stage tour of Snow White, she met Dutch-born acrobat Johnny Votel (Johannes Duiveman). They married in 1954 and after Gladys learned the trapeze, the couple polished their act at a training school in Holland and began performing a comedy acrobatic routine which toured the Continent and the Middle East for several years. Following her husband's retirement in 1977, she focused on her singing and founded Rose Productions, staging shows alongside her daughters Janette and Wendy who performed a double-act as the Votel Sisters.

Probably better remembered for her twelve year stint on Channel 4's Brookside as Julia Brogan, her other credits included roles in Second City Firsts, Red Letter Day, Bulman and Bread.

She passed away on 4th July 1998 following a four year battle with cancer, aged 67.