Hilda Ogden

Hilda Alice Ogden (née Crabtree) was a resident of 13 Coronation Street from 1964 to 1987. The devoted wife of Stan, Hilda and her husband were the roughnecks of Coronation Street and had frequent clashes with their neighbours.

Hilda and Stan were life's losers. Due to Stan's drunken rages, two of their children - Tony and Sylvia - were taken into council care, and their other two children - Irma and Trevor - ran away from home. They lived on the breadline, with Hilda holding up to five charing jobs at once just to keep the house going, compensating for Stan who ducked out of work whenever possible to drink and laze around. No one knew Stan's flaws better than Hilda, who often had to nag him out to work, but for the most part she doted on him and defended him vehemently against his detractors.

Except for the rare social occasions, Hilda wore her hair in curlers and a headscarf. She was the Street's principal gossip and revelled in spreading it around, particularly if it could cause trouble. As a result, she had no real friends in the Street, and the neighbours treated her and Stan like a joke - a matter which greatly upset Hilda. As part of her continuing quest to gain the respect and envy of the neighbours, Hilda erected a mural on No.13's parlour wall. She also considered herself a skilled clairvoyant, and offered teacup readings for a fee.

Hilda was widowed when Stan died from a heart attack in 1984. She lived at No.13 for three more years, with Kevin and Sally Webster as lodgers, before moving to Derbyshire to keep house for Doctor Lowther, who offered her accommodation in a cottage attached to his home.

1924-1943: Hilda Crabtree that was
Hilda Alice Crabtree was born to Arnold and Florence Crabtree of Silk Street, Weatherfield on 2nd February 1924. She was the youngest of three, after Norman and Archie.

The Crabtrees never got rich from Arnold's earnings from his work as an embalmer, and Hilda spent her youth moving from one slum to another. Worst of all was Back Butler Street, although even in those circumstances Florence kept a good house and the fumigation crew never descended on the Crabtree household.

Hilda was educated at St. Joseph's Elementary School and left at fifteen, entering the working world just as war broke out in Europe. She spent the war working in a munitions factory, while living with her parents in Kitchener Street, but still found the time to have fun with her friends Daisy Shaw, Mollie Lancaster, and Maureen Hegerty, and even had a romance with American GI Ralph Curtis.

On one night in 1943, after helping her inebriated Army boyfriend Harry Battersby home following an evening's drinking at the Tripe Dressers Arms, the lights went out, stranding Hilda a mile from home. Racing to the nearest shelter in Crimea Street, Hilda passed the Co-op where she tripped over what she took to be a bundle of clothes - until it started moving, and Hilda found herself entangled with a beer-sodden tramp. Stanley Ogden had just left the Docker's Arms after winning the pint drinking contest for the fifth year running and was recuperating in a heap when Hilda fell over him. Though he'd taken a kick in the stomach, Stan helped the mystery woman to her feet, and Hilda reciprocated, getting a darkened glimpse of a man who had a look of Clark Gable about him. After limping along to the shelter, Hilda was thrilled to see Stan trailing her - but as the light hit him, he looked more English lout than Hollywood superstar. Even so, Hilda's head had been turned, and she spent the night in the shelter talking away to him.

Six short days later, the star-crossed lovers were married. After the ceremony, the couple headed for the Spinners' Arms, where Stan resumed his pint, and their reception took place. The event was a great success - until Joan Fairhurst walked in and announced that the groom was her fiancé. Best man Bernie Sparks saved the day by proposing to Joan himself. Their first night of married bliss was barely behind them when the military police knocked on the door to arrest Stan for over-staying his four-day leave. The Ogden marriage had begun in earnest.

1943-1964: A long-distance marriage
On marrying Stan, Hilda moved into his parents' house in Mare Street. Mary Ogden approved of her, and, when Hilda announced her pregnancy, she pampered her daughter-in-law. Hilda then found that she wasn't pregnant after all, but didn't tell Mary, who threw Hilda out when she discovered the truth. Hilda rented 17 Charles Street and waited for her Stan to come home.

While working with the Army, Stan gained an HGV licence and after being demobbed, he became a long-distance lorry driver, stopping by Weatherfield so rarely that it was as if he'd never returned from the war. Hilda became a career cleaner, supporting single-handedly a family that seemed to gain an extra member whenever Stan visited; eldest, Freda, born in 1946, was followed by Dudley, Tony, and Sylvia. Hilda's faith in her husband never wavered, but he didn't send on enough money for the family to get by, and they often had no money for rent, resulting in many a moonlight flit. Hilda coped gamely on her own with Freda and Dudley, but Tony and Sylvia were mentally retarded, and with the extra problem of Stan being drunk and violent to her and the kids whenever he was around, Hilda was relieved when their younger children were taken off them and placed in a home.

By the 1960s, Hilda was sick of having a long-distance husband and demanded that Stan give up his job or she'd leave him. Meanwhile, Freda decided she'd had enough of her parents and, at seventeen, she left their Chapel Street home to live in a flat over a pie shop with barmaid Marion Black, got a job at the Corner Shop in Coronation Street, and changed her name to Irma. Estrangement from Freda encouraged Hilda to make good on her threat to Stan, and after a brief separation he gave in and agreed to get a local job and unite the Ogdens under one roof.

1964-1968: Arrival at number thirteen
In July 1964, Stan sent word to Hilda that he'd found Irma and a house - 13 Coronation Street. Putting his £200 savings down, Stan took out a £350 mortgage on the house, and the Ogdens moved to Coronation Street - their first real home.

Hilda loved the house and quickly found a job as cleaner at the Rovers Return, but regular work eluded Stan, and Irma soon regretted giving up her independence to live with her parents again. However, it was Dudley (now called Trevor) who left the family home first; while the Street residents were evacuated to the mission cellar during a bomb scare, the fifteen-year-old stole from the houses and ran off to London. Due to their shame, Stan and Hilda took no steps to trace him, although Hilda laid into Stan for being such a poor father figure and role model. A year later, Irma married David Barlow they bought the Corner Shop together. With a wall between them, Irma's relationship with her parents improved.

The only problem now was Stan. By turn a milkman, ice cream vendor, chauffeur, wrestler, and waste paper businessman, Stan failed in every line of work he entered. Stan was willing to try his hand at anything that promised to make him rich with little effort, but his total resistance to hard graft meant that he never lasted long. Hilda often had to nag him out to work, even if he usually only made it as far as the Rovers, which had become his second home.

With Stan's bone-idleness, and Hilda's assumed position as the Street gossip, the Ogdens were treated like a joke by the neighbours, and they struggled to make friends. After a while, Hilda began to fear she'd spend the rest of her life skivvying and, looking to the recent engagement of Elsie Tanner - a woman she disparaged in public - began to envy her eventful, exciting life, and became depressed and vague. While on a visit to her cousins', Hilda went missing. As she had the club outing money with her, Stan thought it was a pre-planned flit and that a man was involved, but after a week's absence Hilda was found on the Pier head in Liverpool in a confused state, having suffered a nervous breakdown. Doctor McKenzie diagnosed paranoid psychosis, attributed to jealousy over Elsie. Although Hilda didn't remember anything when she woke, Stan came through for her in the ensuing weeks, being the attentive husband he'd never been.

In January 1968, Hilda developed a platonic friendship with George Greenwood, keeper of Oakenshaw Park where she often went for a walk. George showed Hilda his workhut and introduced her to his budgie, Winston, and even gave her her own budgie, which she called Mabel and kept in the hut with Winston. Though there was nothing untoward about their meetings, Hilda felt that she was somehow betraying Stan, and told George she couldn't see him again. Unbeknown to Hilda, Stan had been notified that they were seeing each other by George's wife Agnes, and advised to make the most of Hilda's guilt by getting her to spoil him.

A few months later, David and Irma decided to emigrate to Australia so that David could relaunch his football career there. Hilda was so distraught at losing Irma that she proposed that she and Stan move there too, but Stan's absolute refusal to leave England caused her to back down. A small consolation came seven months later, when the Barlows announced the birth of Darren, Hilda and Stan's first grandson.

1968-1971: Irma returns
In June that year, Stan bought I-spy Dwyer's window cleaning round for £45. Hilda was so approving that she agreed to help out, taking responsibility for Stan's lady customers who might take a fancy to him. One woman in particular was Clara Regan of 19 Inkerman Street, whose affair with Stan was the worst kept secret in Weatherfield. Hilda believed Stan was faithful, and soon left his business to him, but Stan servicing 19 Inkerman Street's windows was the butt of many jokes from the likes of Ray Langton and Billy Walker for years to come.

The Ogdens continued to struggle financially. In 1969, Stan traded in his round for a car park attendant's position, and early in 1970 Hilda took on an extra cleaning job at Alan Howard's Salon.

A few months later, Ken Barlow broke the news that Irma, David and Darren had been involved in a car crash. Irma was treated for shock but was otherwise fine, however both her husband and son died from their injuries. Hilda rushed to her daughter's side, with Stan borrowing £600 from bookie Dave Smith to pay for her flights - her first journey abroad. A week later, Hilda and Irma returned to the UK, by which time the Ogdens had received enough money from well-wishers to pay Dave back. However, in a misguided gesture of love for his daughter, Stan used the money to buy Irma into the Corner Shop. In the wake of David and Darren's deaths, Irma acted out in odd ways, and at one point dated Dave Smith. When Hilda objected, Stan informed her that as security for the loan, he'd signed their house over to Dave, and so she'd better not upset him. That, plus the prospect of having a wealthy son-in-law caused Hilda to change her tune, but in any case Irma and Dave's relationship was casual and mostly for show.

Hilda enjoyed having Irma back in the Street and she would often linger in the shop to complain about Stan or eavesdrop on conversations. Irma remained in the Street until December 1971, when she moved to Llandudno and sold her share in the shop. Irma's departure coincided with the Ogdens finally settling their debt with Dave; after Hilda won £500 on Premium Bonds, Stan insisted on on paying Dave the £370 still owed, making No.13 unequivocally theirs again. Determined to treat herself with the remaining £95, Hilda bought a coffee percolator, a tray, a table centre, a cocktail bar and an electric tooth brush on a shopping spree, and threw a cocktail party, only to discover that Stan had drunk all the miniatures and filled the bottles with cold tea!

1971-1974: Reconciliation with Trevor
In July that year, Hilda was reunited with her old friend George Greenwood, who was on the judging panel at the Community Centre flower show. Thinking they were bound to win, Stan stole an orchid from the park and passed it off as theirs - but George immediately recognised one from his collection, much to Hilda's shame.

Much derided by the neighbours, Hilda yearned to be envied by them. In August, she took delivery of a colour television set, and spent the next week enthusing about it to all and sundry before it was repossessed by the rental company (all the while failing to notice everyone's total disinterest). The following month, while Hilda was away, Stan made a serving hatch. It was too big and on the wrong wall, but finally No.13 was set apart from its neighbours in a good way, and so Hilda couldn't have been happier.

In April 1972, after two years working for Fairclough and Langton, Stan returned to the lorries, but after a crash put him in hospital, Hilda decided his days of lorry driving were over and made him start up his window cleaning round again. Meanwhile, with the Ogdens feeling the pinch, Hilda took on additional work - alongside her job at the Rovers, she cleaned the Betting Shop as well as Benny Lewis's flat and the Capricorn nightclub, where she also did the washing up. With Hilda doing so much, Stan felt free to retire - but Hilda wasn't going to let him off that lightly, and made him do all of the housework. Stan actually showed promise early on but within days Alan Howard sacked Hilda from the Capricorn for gossiping about him and Rita Littlewood, and normal service was resumed.

A year later, the Ogdens celebrated their pearl wedding anniversary with a party at No.13. As Hilda lorded it over the neighbours, gloating to Betty Turpin about Elsie Howard's recent family troubles, Betty snappily reminded her of her estrangement from Trevor. Betty's comments hit home; letting Trevor slip away was one of Hilda's biggest regrets. Stan still held a grudge against his son, but Hilda was determined to track him down. Using a letter sent to them by Trevor two years earlier, the Ogdens found Trevor living in a detached house in Avondale Avenue, Chesterfield, having worked his way up from a wood yard to become an estate agent. Now the husband of Polly and father of Damian, Trevor was embarrassed by his parents and warned Polly that they would try to sponge off them. Hopeful of building a relationship with the family, Hilda put on a front, trying not to appear common, but Stan showed only contempt for Trevor, and when Polly let slip that Trevor had told her that his parents were dead, Hilda was so upset that she and Stan left.

Afterwards, Trevor occasionally let the Ogdens see Damian, at his and Polly's convenience. Keen to prove her worth to Trevor, Hilda got an interview for the Kabin to replace Mavis Riley as Rita's assistant. Given a trial by Len Fairclough, Hilda ordered Stan to come in as a customer, carefully planning a scene which would show Rita how efficient she was, but Stan spent the money in the Rovers instead and rolled up to the Kabin blind drunk, where he giggled and said he'd forgotten what Hilda told him to say. In the end, Lucille Hewitt got the job.

1974-1976: Getting away from it all
In desperate need of a break, Hilda took a six-week cleaning job on a cruise ship, the Monte Umber. Not long after she returned, the Ogdens were offered a caretakership at the Community Centre, a post they'd previously applied for but lost out to Gertie Robson. Thinking their luck was finally changing, Hilda quit the Rovers and sold No.13 to Jimmy Graham for £2,500, however at the last minute the Bishops told them they didn't have the jobs due to their poor record with the health inspector. The Ogdens called off the deal with Jimmy, and Hilda wept as her dreams were shattered once again - although she managed to get her Rovers job back with a pay rise.

Now in her fifties, Hilda was worn out and increasingly dissatisfied with No.13. As the 1970s wore on, the Ogdens' usual troubles were exacerbated by economic recession and Stan's failing health - which meant that Hilda had to work even more. In 1975, Stan became so ill that he went off beer and, forced out to work by Hilda who thought he was trying to skive, he collapsed in the street. While he was on the sick, the Ogdens received only £7.65 benefit for his incapacity as Stan hadn't paid his National Insurance for six months, so to make ends meet Hilda took on an extra job doing the washing up at the Mark Brittain Warehouse and did Stan's round, with the help of Eddie Yeats.

Newly released from Walton Jail, Eddie Yeats vowed never to return and kept his nose clean. Lazy and workshy, he found a kindred spirit in Stan, and frequently called at No.13 to cadge a free dinner or coax Stan out for a drink (not that he had to try very hard). In July 1976, he offered to help Hilda decorate No.13's parlour by getting her half-price wallpaper from a mate, in exchange for lodgings in the Ogdens' spare room. However, half of the wallpaper Eddie brought faded with only three walls covered. For the last wall, after a few suggestions which Hilda rejected, Eddie supplied a special wallpaper which created a mural of the Canadian Rockies. The "muriel" was everything Hilda wanted - looking at it, she could imagine herself in more picturesque surroundings, and as no one else had one, No.13 gained prestige. She immediately fell in love with it.

Towards the end of the year, Hilda fell into a slump again. In October, when swerving her car to avoid hitting a dog, Annie Walker slammed into Stan's cart, putting him out of work again until a sympathetic Len, Ray and Terry Bradshaw made him a new one. A few weeks later, Hilda's missing red mac turned up on a bonfire guy which two young boys were pushing around. When they came into the Rovers, the regulars noticed Hilda's mac and roared with laughter, humiliating her. To cheer his wife up, Stan bought the mac back from the boys for 10p, but Hilda refused to wear it and decided to treat herself to a new one. Dipping into her Christmas money, Hilda was furious to find that Stan had already taken half of it. At the end of her tether, she launched into a tirade at Stan, telling him she wished she'd never met him, and threw him out.

After a few hours, Hilda calmed down and awaited her husband's return. However, days went by with no sign of him. After a week, Hilda started to fear the worst and confided in Annie, who rang the police to report him missing. Her fears were put to rest when her brother Norman called round to complain about Stan imposing on him at his Oakhill chip shop. With Hilda refusing to beg Stan to return, and Stan being looked after by assistant Edie Blundell, Eddie decided to intervene but inadvertently made matters worse by telling Stan that Hilda wanted an apology from him; Hilda's outburst had hurt Stan deeply and he felt that he was owed an apology. After hearing about Edie, Hilda went to fetch Stan herself, and got into a slanging match with Edie and Norman, with Stan stepping up to defend his wife. Thrown out of the shop by Norman, the Ogdens realised that, for better or worse, they belonged together, and life at No.13 returned to normal.

1977-1980: Battles at the factory
In May 1977, Hilda was taken on as cleaner at the recently-opened Baldwin's Casuals, working evenings. Out of curiosity, Hilda had a go on one of the sewing machines and, discovering a knack for it, made herself denim cleaning mittens from offcuts after finishing her cleaning duties. Thinking she was onto a winner, Eddie persuaded Hilda to go into partnership with him making curtains, with Eddie supplying the material, but Mike Baldwin soon caught her making curtains on his time and put a stop to it.

The extra wage made life a little easier for the Ogdens, and Hilda was excited at the thought that they might be able to afford to move. When the Langtons moved, Hilda wanted to buy No.5, the most modern house in the street, but they were beaten to the punch by the Tilsleys.

In May 1978, Hilda received a letter from her American flame, Ralph Curtis, who was in the country and wanted to meet up with her. Hilda was unsure about seeing him again as it had been so long, but Renee Roberts pushed her into calling his hotel from the Corner Shop, and he arranged to visit the house. Once Ralph arrived, time fell away and Hilda enjoyed his visit immensely. With the same boundless energy and enthusiasm she remembered, Ralph was quite a contrast to Stan and Hilda couldn't help wondering what might have been.

Hilda was used to working without support or solidarity. When she asked for a new broom for her factory work, Mike accused Hilda of cutting up her broom and sacked her. Hilda was stunned when Ivy Tilsley led the girls out on strike in sympathy, a strike not backed by the union due to Hilda not being a member. Surprisingly, Hilda herself wasn't bothered by the sacking and walked into a new job cleaning the offices at the Abbatoir, leaving the picket line to work. However, when Mike backed down and agreed to reinstate her, Hilda quit her new job for fear of what the girls would do if they knew.

Two years later, Hilda was the source of another factory row. Thrown out of the pools syndicate by Vera Duckworth for missing a week, Hilda got revenge by copying the winning pools numbers onto the factory girls' copy, to make Vera think she'd won a little money. However, she messed up and the factory girls celebrated a win of thousands. Hilda was too afraid to tell the girls the truth, but confessed to Mike when the girls found out they hadn't won and blamed the error on Martin Cheveski. Eager for a peaceful solution, Mike broke the news to the girls and threatened to fire anyone who touched Hilda. The girls responded by sending Hilda to Coventry, leaving Mike with no choice but to sack her. The situation upset Hilda so much that she went to stay with Trevor for a while. In her absence, Vera exacted revenge by tipping off Johnny Webb's wife Maureen Webb that Hilda was her husband's mistress (in reality, Stan was letting him lodge at No.13 while Hilda was away). Maureen had a public slanging match with Hilda, but backed down when she saw the size of Stan.

1980-1984: Stan's final years
In July, Hilda offered a homeless Eddie the Ogdens' front bedroom for £20 a week, satisfied that he could pay his way as he'd finally got a full-time job on the bins after four years on the dole.

Hilda bounced back from the factory fiasco by getting a job cleaning No.9 for Len and Rita. As a Christmas treat for herself, she hired Mrs Palin as a regular cleaner for No.13 at £1.75 an hour, but had to reluctantly let her go after a few weeks as they could no longer afford her. She carried on working for the Faircloughs until September 1981, when she got an interview for a cleaning job at a businessman's flat, which turned out to be Mike's. Mike took Hilda on, feeling that she was honest and trustworthy. On her first day, Hilda accidentally set off the burglar alarm, attracting the attention of a police officer, who questioned Hilda and sent for Mike. Hilda was relieved when Mike laughed it off.

After visiting her brother Archie's plush new home, Hilda's thirst for a change of scenery was reawakened, and she began looking at show homes. The Ogdens decided to buy a house in River Park Estate for £17,000 and put the house up for sale, but they were denied a mortgage as Stan didn't earn enough. They were tempted to accept an offer from the Bells of £7,500 cash for No.13 and try for a council house, but after a warning from Elsie that the road was in a rough area, Hilda returned the Bells' cheque and took the house off the market. Stan too fancied a change; with another harsh winter coming up, Stan put his round up for sale and decided to take early retirement, only for Hilda to answer the ad (planning to buy the round for Stan) and read him the riot act!

In October 1982, Hilda realised a long-held ambition to clean a big house when she was taken on by Doctor and Mrs Lowther at Goldenhurst, Oakfield Drive. Finding the house and the owners a delight, Hilda didn't mind the extra work.

1983 was a big year for the Ogdens. In February, money lender Syd Kippax got onto Hilda about £185 Stan owed him, giving him 24 hours to pay up. Hilda was confused as Stan had been giving her money for housekeeping, but under questioning he admitted that he'd been borrowing money to hand in instead of working as was no longer able to climb ladders in bad weather. Fortunately Eddie came to the rescue by buying the round for £185 and getting Stan to work for him. Hilda supported Stan throughout, admiring his determination to go on working.

A few months later, Hilda was saddened when her brother Archie passed away from a heart attack. As his only surviving family, she stood to inherit Archie's chop shop, however after his death his assistant Avril Carter also put in a claim for the shop, telling Hilda that she was Archie's fiancée and that with his dying breath he had expressed his desire for her to have the shop. Hilda battled Avril for the shop and, after finding out Avril was having an affair with a married man which would be exposed in court, forced her to drop her claim. Hilda's victory came with a sting in the tale; due to Archie's debts her inheritance came to about £2,000, and she had to sell the shop after the landlord, Mr Holt, put the rent up. Hilda opened a bank account for the first time and celebrated by booking an expensive French restaurant for a meal, threatening to strangle Stan if he ruined the evening for her. Not understanding the French menu, the Ogdens ordered melon and sea bass and had an enjoyable time.

The year had a happy but bittersweet ending as Eddie left No.13 to marry Marion Willis, with Hilda standing in for his mother. The Yeats moved to Bury just after the Ogdens celebrated their Ruby wedding anniversary with a party in the Rovers select.

In 1984, Stan turned sixty-five and started drawing his pension. For health reasons, he had given up work a few months earlier, and by the latter half of the year he was permanently bed-ridden. Hilda was run ragged looking after him, and broke down in the Rovers when Billy Walker had a go at her for failing to turn in. In November, Dr Meakin arranged for an ambulance to take Stan into hospital for tests. He'd been there for a few days when the hospital phoned Hilda, via the Corner Shop, to tell her that Stan had died. The neighbours rallied round Hilda in the wake of Stan's death, with Trevor arriving to support her at the funeral. Although Trevor suggested a cheap cremation, Hilda insisted on a burial as she wanted a plot with room for her when she died. After being strong for Stan at the funeral, Hilda mourned for her husband privately, the grief and loss hitting her as she looked through Stan's effects from the hospital.

1985-1998: Life after Stan
Hilda returned to work immediately after the funeral, sick of moping around in the empty house.

Since moving in, she'd been against having lodgers, but the quietness plus fond memories of Eddie saw her reverse her position. Terry Duckworth stayed at No.13 for a few months in 1984, followed by railway ticket collector Henry Wakefield in January 1985. Shortly after he moved in, Hilda found out from Curly Watts that Henry was actually unemployed; Henry admitted that he couldn't get a work as he was known by the unions as a strike breaker. He offered to leave, but Hilda felt sorry for him and got Mike to give him a job as a van driver at the factory. However, the girls soon found out he was a strike breaker and threatened to walk out. Mike ignored the threat but Henry took their comments to heart and resigned, leaving his lodgings at the same time. Hilda was upset to see Henry go as she'd enjoyed his company.

In July, Hilda was targetted by corrupt builder Les Pringle. When Alf Roberts decided to modernise the Corner Shop, he planned the expansion with Les, and asked Hilda if she'd be willing to sell him No.13. Hilda didn't want to go, but agreed to sell for £14,000 when Les told her the house's roof was sagging and could bring the house down. However, the guilt preyed on her mind and before the sale went through she told Alf about the roof. Inspecting it, Alf discovered the roof was fine and pulled out for Hilda's sake.

That summer, Kevin Webster left his lodgings at No.3, finding landlady Emily Bishop too strict, and moved into No.13 at Terry's recommendation. Kevin found Hilda more fun and easygoing, while Hilda found Kevin polite and respectable, so they got on well. However, they had a minor falling out when Kevin started dating Sally Seddon; Hilda knew the Seddons were a rough family and asked Terry and Curly to get Kevin away from Sally, but after a few months she accepted that Sally wasn't like her parents and even took her in when she discovered her father Eddie Seddon was abusive and took all of her earnings.

Later that year, Kevin and Sally got married and moved into the Corner Shop flat. Hilda met and started a friendship with Sally's uncle Tom Hopwood. In 1987, Tom decided to retire and asked Hilda to marry him and move to a bungalow in Formby with him. Hilda was stunned by the proposal, as she'd only ever seen Tom as a friend, and as such she told him she couldn't marry him; she was still Stan's wife, even in death.

In November, Mike sacked Hilda when she tried to advise him about his and Susan's marriage breakup. At the same time, the Lowthers decided to retire to Hartington, much to Hilda's disappointment, although Joan Lowther offered to recommend Hilda as a cleaner to the house's new owners. While they were packing, Hilda and Joan were attacked by burglars and Joan received a bump on the head. Although Hilda made a full recovery physically, Joan died from her injuries, and a stunned Hilda became withdrawn and afraid to be in her own home. The grieving Dr. Lowther decided not to change his plans to retire, and asked Hilda to keep house for him and live in a flat attached to the cottage. Hilda immediately accepted, and started planning her move away from Coronation Street after 23 years, selling No.13 to Kevin and Sally at a generously low price. Her last full day in Weatherfield was Christmas Day, which she spent with the Websters at No.13, reflecting on days gone by. Calling to say goodbye at the Rovers, she was thrilled to find a surprise party waiting for her, showing Hilda how loved she was in Coronation Street when she thought they'd be glad to see the back of her. For the first time ever, Hilda had a captive audience as she led the residents in a chorus of Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye.

Hilda's only subsequent visit to Coronation Street was in 1990, when she called in at the Rovers on her way to Stan's grave. She was disappointed when no one was around to see her arrive in style in a taxi, but milked every moment when her former neighbours listened keenly as she revealed the latest developments in her life, including a proposal of marriage by Dr. Lowther - although, of course, she left them guessing what her answer would be. Later, at Stan's grave, Hilda told her late husband that she wouldn't be marrying Dr. Lowther and she would always remain an Ogden.

As of 1998, Hilda still lived in Derbyshire, where she occasionally received a visit from Betty Williams. On one such visit, Hilda and Betty reminisced about their old friends and neighbours in Coronation Street. As Betty reported the latest goings-on, Hilda listened eagerly; over ten years and many miles removed from her old life, she was still the same old Hilda Ogden of number thirteen.

Crabtree family
Hilda had great affection for her family and upbringing, and would sometimes refer to herself as a Crabtree. However, references and visits to individual family members were rarer. In March 1966, Stan sold a framed photograph of Hilda's mother Florence to Jed Stone for his "Viaduct Bargain Boutique", resulting in a furious Hilda snatching it back.

As adults, Hilda and her brothers Norman and Archie lived a stone's throw from each other in Weatherfield but all led separate and very different lives. With his own chip shop in Oakhill, Norman was the most successful. His only interaction with Hilda during her time in Coronation Street was in 1976, when Stan took root in the shop after a row with Hilda. Annoyed at being involved, Norman tried to get Stan and Hilda back together - but more for his own sake than theirs.

Hilda seemed closer to Archie. His only visit to 13 Coronation Street was in May 1972, while Stan was in hospital. With his beer belly and laziness, Archie could more easily pass as Stan's brother than Hilda's, and for three weeks, Archie filled Stan's void in Hilda's life. Archie built a porch for Hilda but it was only when they were admiring the completed porch that Jerry Booth reminded them that they would need planning permission. The debacle ended with the mysterious disappearance of the porch, after Hilda was told by Councillor Warburton to take it down. When news came through that Stan was due to come home, Hilda told Archie to leave, none too impressed with his suggestion that she take on another job and look after both of them.

Hilda occasionally went to visit Archie, particularly when his circumstances improved in the early 1980s, with Archie marrying Doris and becoming the owner of Crabtree's Chip Shop. After his death in 1983, Hilda inherited the shop, his money, and also, sadly, his considerable debts.

Creation and casting
In the spring of 1964, producer Tim Aspinall initiated Coronation Street's first major cast shake-up, axing six characters in total. To fill the void, a new family was planned around the character of Irma Ogden, a recent addition to the programme played by Sandra Gough. The family would be more vulgar than viewers were used to seeing, headed up by layabout lorry driver Stan and his nagging wife Hilda, and supported by their four children - Irma, Trevor, Tony and Sylvia.

Jean Alexander was born in Liverpool in 1926. She began her career as a library assistant before transferring her talents to repertory theatre, firstly as a wardrobe mistress and then as a stage mistress, in various places in the North West including Oldham, York, and the Adelphi Guild Theatre in Macclesfield. She then realised her ambition of becoming an actress, spending seven years with Southport rep. She had an early TV role as Mrs. Webb, landlady of baby kidnapper Joan Akers, in two episodes of Coronation Street in 1962, which paved the way for her subsequent casting as Hilda two years later. Betty Driver also auditioned for the part, but was rejected as casting directors wanted a more slender actress for Hilda.

Stan made his debut in Episode 370 but viewers had to wait to be introduced to his wife as transmission of the following episode was delayed by a week by strike action by the ACTT (Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians). An additional result of the strike was that the following week's episodes, which were at the rehearsal stage when the strike occurred, went unrecorded, with production picking up with Episode 374 the week after. The unmade episodes would have seen the Ogdens move into No.13 and Tony and Sylvia make their debut appearances. During this period, plans for the Ogdens were revised, cutting the number of children from four to two.

The rise of Stan and Hilda
Amid the controversy over Aspinall's cast cull, the Ogdens stood out as a bright spot to writer H.V. Kershaw, who returned to his role as producer when Aspinall stepped down in September. Praising the chemistry between the actors, he remarked in his 1981 book The Street Where I Live (1981): "After a few weeks of Bernard Youens and Jean Alexander as the ill-starred Stan and Hilda, it is patently obvious that they are here to stay for ever."

Initially, Hilda was characterised as a tough working class woman who stood at her uncouth husband's side, blind to his flaws. This was subtly changed as writers realised the comic potential of Hilda being more of a fishwife - all the while defending him vehemently when anyone else dared take a potshot, as remarked upon by Kershaw: "The Ogdens, Hilda and Stan, arguably one of the funniest cross-talk teams on television, are to my mind at their best when they are poignant. Hilda, thin and defiant, defending the fat, lazy Stan against an unkind world," and Jean Alexander: "They would bicker between themselves but one one else dared raise a finger or say a word against either of them or they'd both be up in arms." (Fifty Years of Coronation Street, Headline Publishing Group, 2010) On her role: "As a character she's interesting to play, and I like her because she's the opposite of me. She lets fly at people in a way I'd like to myself and never do. When I'm being Hilda, I can get it all out of my system." (The Coronation Street Story)

Their relationship was tinkered with again when Bill Podmore took over as producer in 1976, with Stan becoming more hen-pecked and Geoffrey Hughes entering the fray as Eddie Yeats, the Ogdens' prodigal son (with Irma and Trevor long having left the programme). Podmore: "Stan and Hilda were one of the great comedy couples. In my book they rivalled Morecambe and Wise." (Coronation Street: The Inside Story, 1990)

At the peak of Hilda's popularity, character and actress gained a number of accolades, including being named as the fourth most recognisable woman in the UK after the Queen, Queen Mother and Diana in a 1982 poll and, more oddly, prompting Michael Parkinson, Russell Harty and Sir John Betjeman to form the British League for Hilda Ogden, with Laurence Olivier as it's president. Olivier was such a fan of the character that he requested a part in the programme. A part was written for him - a meths-drinking tramp called Ozzie who camped outside a shop next to Hilda while she queued overnight for a discounted colour TV - however a scheduling conflict resulted in Olivier being unable to take the role. Podmore: "Hilda Ogden was a legend. Universities wanted to make her their rector; a Welsh rugby team hailed her as their mascot; even the Falklands Fleet urgently called for a picture of their pin-up complete with curlers, to inspire the troops for battle."

Glad rags and that voice
Hilda's famous look - with her curlers, headscarf and pinny - was developed over time by Jean Alexander and the wardrobe department. Alexander felt that the curlers said something about the character: "I remembered seeing the women working on munitions during the war. All the girls in the factories had to have their heads covered because of the machinery. They used to wear these scarves, like pudding clothes, tied up and the curlers would be in.. I thought Hilda would have worked on munitions and would have had her hair tied up... She was always ready to go out - only she never went out. The curlers were always in, just in case she happened to be going out in the evening." (The Coronation Street Story, Boxtree Limited, 1995) About the pinny: "It was donkeys' years old, but it seemed to fascinate viewers who used to write in in droves to see where they could buy one similar." (Life in the Street, Boxtree Limited, 1991)

One bonus of Hilda sporting such a different look from Alexander's day clothes was that she wasn't recognised all that often - a fact appreciated by an actress who guarded her privacy. Podmore: "She could transform herself within seconds. A touch of lipstick, a headscarf, an old mackintosh and a curler or two, and there stood Hilda Ogden in all her pinched-mouth glory. At the end of the day the cloak of Hilda was discarded as quickly as it was created and left behind in the studio. Jean Alexander could stand on Salford station and catch her train home safe in the knowledge that none of her fellow passengers would give the elegant lady a second glance."

Another trait of Hilda's worked out early on was her famously shrill singing voice. Viewers were introduced to Hilda's "talent" soon after she arrived in the street, as Jean Alexander recalls: "I'd been in it a couple of months and the script said: 'Hilda is out of shot in the backyard pegging out washing and singing.' So I just started singing the sort of songs that Hilda would know, that were from my own era actually, and the crew fell about laughing. They all thought it was hysterical, so after that whenever they wrote in "Hilda sings". they'd never state the song and they'd just leave that to me." (Fifty Years)

The "muriel"
When Bill Podmore became Coronation Street's producer in 1976, one of his goals was to increase the amount of comedy in the scripts. One of the first stories devised for the Ogdens was the re-decoration of No.13's parlour and the establishment of Hilda's beloved mural, or "muriel" as she called it (an example of her malapropisms which were frequently worked into scripts), and its flying ducks - one of which could never stay up.

According to Alexander, the scenes inside No.13 were recorded at the end of of Episode 1616's studio day, leaving no margin for error: "We had about six scenes, with the room in various stages of stripping and repapering, we had fifty minutes of studio time left to do these six scenes. It was so fast! We'd do one scene and then the prop men would come on and strip a bit more wallpaper off. You couldn't enjoy it because nobody dared dry." (The Coronation Street Story) On the mural itself: "(Hilda's) was a life of disappointment, so it was my idea that the middle flying duck on her famous 'muriel' should always be taking a nose-dive. Each time Hilda went past she would try to push it up straight, but it always fell down again. Which summed up her life really. They did live at Number 13 after all." (50 Years of Coronation Street: The (very) Unofficial Story, JR Books, 2010)

Stan's death
In 1975, Bernard Youens suffered a minor stroke, the first in a series of health problems which plagued the actor for the rest of his life. By the early 1980s, his speech and mobility were affected, and as a result Hilda and Eddie took on most of the dialogue in their scenes to ease the burden on the actor, who wished to continue on in the programme. He died aged sixty-nine on 27th August 1984, much to the sadness of the cast and crew, particularly his screen wife of twenty years. Alexander: "I miss him more than I can say. We never had to discuss a scene or go over a piece of dialogue together. He always turned up word-perfect, just as I did, and we knew exactly how we were going to play it. Working without "Bunny" was like acting without my arm." (Life in the Street)

Stan passed away peacefully in hospital in November 1984 after a lengthy absence from screens. In a famous scene, after holding back the tears for the duration of the episode, Hilda broke down alone in No.13 while unwrapping Stan's effects from the hospital. Podmore: "Coronation Street's scriptwriting team, with Jean's total approval, had decided that Hilda would never allow herself to shed a tear in public no matter how great her sadness. We all thought long and hard about how she might deal with her husband's death. The breakdown had to come some time, and we chose the moment when Hilda unwrapped the sad little parcel she brought home from the hospital, which contained Stan's few personal effects. Jean's playing of that scene was devastating; as she closed Stan's spectacle case the nation wept with her."

Alexander's performance during the scene won her the Royal Television Society's Best Performance Award the following year. Alexander: "It was the first award I had ever received, and the proudest moment of my life." (Life in the Street)

Departure
In the mid-1980s; Bill Podmore took a step back into a role as Executive Producer, with John G. Temple taking over as producer. For the next three years, Alexander remained with the programme, exploring Hilda's life as a widow. According to Podmore, this wasn't the original plan: "My long-term plan was for Eddie Yeats to take over as comic-relief lodger. It just might have worked, and Jean Alexander's wonderful character might still have been bottoming out the Rovers and mopping up every morsel of Coronation Street's gossip." However, Hughes quit the programme in 1983, and Hilda was instead supported by newcomers Kevin and Sally Webster.

In 1987, Alexander decided that it was time to move on, and broke the news to the producer: "It was nice and it was a secure job and all that, but suddenly I thought, I don't want to be here for the rest of my life. I'd like to do some of the things I was doing before I ever came into this show. I would like to play other parts before I fall off my perch... I went in to see Bill Podmore and said, 'I've decided I want to leave at the end of my contract - Christmas.' 'Oh,' he said, 'I've been dreading the day when you'd come in and say that. (The Coronation Street Story) Podmore: "I really did think Hilda's retirement would be one of the great watersheds, and I was dreading the inevitable moment."

Hilda's final appearance, broadcast on Christmas Day 1987, saw Hilda sing "Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye", in her trademark trilling voice, before leaving Weatherfield to keep house for her employer, Doctor Lowther - a happy ending for a character who had spent her life going from pillar to post. The episode was watched by 17.97 million viewers on Christmas Day, with 8.65 million viewers catching up via a one-off omnibus repeat, resulting in a total audience of 26.62 million viewers - Coronation Street's highest ever audience figure.

Reprising the role
Jean Alexander has declined numerous invitations to reprise her character, with two exceptions. The first was the 1990 ITV Telethon, which featured a mini-episode showing a more prosperous Hilda visit the Street on her way to Stan's grave. Alexander was reluctant to return to the part, but on this occasion the circumstances were right: "When Granada asked me to return, I had to stop and think. I didn't really want to be Hilda again. I was worried I'd start up the old associations. But, as it was a one-off for such worthwhile charities, I couldn't really say no." On what viewers could expect: "Hilda has changed. Having sold her house, she's got a few pennies tucked away, along with her wages from the doctor, plus her own flat in his house. Now that she's better off, she's less envious. But, knowing Hilda, she might show off a bit."

Alexander last played Hilda in a 1998 video special The Women of Coronation Street. The special showed Betty Williams visit Hilda in Derbyshire and reminisce (and gossip) about the women of Coronation Street past and present, segueing into archive clips.

Despite the passage of time, Hilda remained immensely popular. In 2005, she was voted the UK's favourite soap character of all time in a TV Times poll. However, she has never returned to the show proper, despite numerous invitations. Writer John Stevenson: "They've asked her to come back many times but she won't, and it's too late now." (50 Years) On her reasons for staying away, Alexander: "It'd be a complete mistake to go back. And Hilda would be a different person now because she has achieved the status she'd wanted all her life - to be the doctor's housekeeper and have her own apartment in his house. She'd have smartened herself up no end." (Fifty Years) On her character's enduring appeal: "Hilda would have loved that and I am honoured people still remember her so fondly. I suppose the viewers recognised the type, and on location on the backstreets of Manchester, I've happened upon a few Hildas myself who could've come straight off the Coronation Street set." (Fifty Years)

Quotes
"Hey Stan look, we've got two taps" (First line)

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"Drop dead Stan. And then get up and do it again!"

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"I've come in here more times than I care to remember. Cold. Wet. Tired out. Not a penny in me purse. And seeing them ducks and that muriel... well they've kept me hand away from gas tap. And that's a fact."

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"Woman, Stanley. Woman!" (To husband Stan Ogden when he enquires what her lipstick tastes of)

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"He'd skin a flea and then sell it in a vest, would Alf Roberts!"

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"Oh, they are. She lived with him at No. 3, you know, for quite some time." (Final line, to Alec Gilroy about Bet and Mike Baldwin)