Jed Stone

Jed Stone was a Liverpool-born Coronation Street resident in the 1960s, and lodger of Minnie Caldwell. While living in the street he tried to make a living from a variety of get-rich-quick schemes. Jed left the street in 1966 when he received a nine-month prison sentence for handling stolen blankets.

After release he moved to Nightingale Terrace, where he lived until the area was redeveloped in 2008 and he was forced out of his home by Tony Gordon. Jed briefly lived in Coronation Street again until he was nearly murdered by Tony and agreed to move to a house in Wigan to stay out his way.

1960s
Jed was born in Liverpool on 6th March 1940. He served time in a borstal in Manchester in 1960, and first showed up in Weatherfield in April of the following year to see if his friend Dennis Tanner, who he met in the borstal, would help him out on a job - of dubious legality - but Dennis wasn't into that sort of thing anymore and turned him down.

He returned in the September, reformed but unemployed, to find legitimate work with Dennis' help. Dennis was promoted at the Orinocco club and managed to get Jed his old job. Jed was a regular fixture in the street from then on and became fast friends with Dennis, Christine Hardman and Jean Stark, who he briefly dated.

After some time away, Jed reappeared in November 1962, as Dennis had told him he would be able to lodge at No.11, but Dennis' mother Elsie wasn't having it. A sympathetic Minnie Caldwell let Jed live with her at No.5. Having finished at the Orinocco, he made money by doing odd jobs for friends and trying out the occasional business idea of his, including selling wash basins, waxwork dummys, operating a market stall and working in an auction room. Whatever the job, they were always short-term and he never earned a lot, if anything.

Some of the street's residents didn't trust Jed, and as Dennis was away nobody was vouching for him. It wasn't long before his charm and incomparable wit got him a few friends, namely Sheila Birtles, Jerry Booth and Doreen Lostock. He became a ray of sunshine in pensioner Minnie's life, as the son she never had. When Sunny Jim, as Minnie called him, decided to leave Weatherfield in 1963 and live with some friends back in Liverpool, he didn't know how to tell Minnie and ended up leaving without telling her, as he couldn't bear to break her heart.

Jed unexpectedly showed up at Number 5 in January 1966 and paid a few months rent in advance, telling Minnie he would be staying for a while. Pretty soon he was conjuring up more get-rich-quick schemes, and opened the Viaduct Bargain Boutique with Dennis, hoping to make money by holding auctions there. He stayed until September, when he the police were after him for possessing stolen blankets and caught up with him in Coronation Street before he had a chance to scarper. He was more worried about leaving Minnie feeling devastated again on her birthday and asked the police to pretend to be friends of his. He was sent to Walton Jail for nine months.

After Coronation Street
After his release from prison, Jed swore he'd never end up in prison again. He moved to 23 Nightingale Terrace in Weatherfield and kept in touch with Minnie. In 1974, Jed was supposed to return for a visit but sent his friend Eddie Yeats, who he had met in Walton, in his place.

Jed lived in Nightingale Terrace for 40 years. He never married or had children, but stayed out of trouble.

Return
In 2008, businessman Tony Gordon bought out the owners of the properties in Nightingale Terrance, which by that time was a slum area. Tony's plan was to redevelop the area, however Jed refused to be moved and turned down Tony's compensation money. In spite of health problems, Jed stood up to Tony, saying he was still more of a man than him.

Ten days later, Tony returned, barging into Jed's home, in an attempt to buy Jed out of the flat. When a stressed Jed collapsed from a mild stroke, Tony delayed calling the ambulance, instead calling Jason Grimshaw who was helping to develop the flats. He then told the paramedics that Jed had been ready to sign the papers before he collapsed. He left Jed's cat Sunny Jim on the streets to fend for itself. Jed spent several months at Weatherfield General, and was visited by Tony, who informed him that the house had been cleared out.

In November, Emily Bishop, a former neighbour of Jed, was working in the canteen at the hospital and met up with Jed, and they talked about past times. Jed was thrilled to see a familiar face and jumped at the chance to move in with Emily and Norris Cole at 3 Coronation Street - next door to Minnie's old house.

As he settled back into Coronation Street, Jed was surprised to find Tony Gordon was co-owner of Underworld, a factory in the street. Jed started following Tony around, demanding money for Tony taking away his cat and home. When Jed found out that neighbour Maria Connor had accused Tony of murdering her husband Liam, Jed let Maria know that he believed her, even though nobody else did. Liam had been killed in a hit-and-run arranged by Tony and carried out by Tony's associate Jimmy Dockerson, who Jed had seen at Nightingale Terrace and after seeing him meeting with Tony before Christmas he thought he could blackmail Tony.

Jed visited Tony at the factory on Christmas Eve and wanted more cash for his silence. In rage, Tony strangled Jed, apparently to death, and in panic stuffed Jed's body in a Christmas hamper until he could find a chance to move the body. Jed was badly hurt, but still alive, as Tony discovered the following morning. Tony offered Jed a chance for life - if he accepted Tony's offer of a house in Wigan and agreed not to tell the police about him or even tell anyone about his departure. Jed left the street that same day.

Personality
In his youth, Jed was a spirited, witty person. He didn't take life too seriously and initially this led him to take advantage of others without caring about the consequences - if they were taken in by his schemes, shame on them. Unpretentious and unsentimental, Jed lived life in the moment, enjoying his bachelorhood and freedom to do what he wanted. His style of humour was somewhat in-your-face and was almost always in a lighthearted mood, which led some neighbours who took life more seriously to dislike him.

Jed's landlady Minnie Caldwell saw him as the son she never had, and he usually went out of his way to make her life more comfortable. In 2008, reflecting on "Ma", Jed wondered why Minnie had put up with him given all the trouble he caused her.

In his later years, Jed was no less enthusiastic, but had long since given up his nefarious schemes. Having never got tied down along the years by marriage or children, Jed was somewhat aloof, and determined not to let failing health get the better of him.

Miscellaneous information

 * Jed's cat Sunny Jim was named after himself - it was Minnie Caldwell's nickname for Jed. After Jed's disappearance on Christmas Day, Sunny Jim was found and taken to No.5, where Emily and Norris took care of him.
 * Jed almost always wore a flat cap. He never took it off, not even in bed.
 * Jed can drive a motorcyle.

Behind the scenes
Jed Stone was first seen in 1961. As with Philip Lowrie as Dennis Tanner (and later Geoffrey Hughes as Eddie Yeats), actor Kenneth Cope's performances turned Jed from a petty criminal into a loveable rogue, for example during an argument with Ena Sharples, Cope thought the cameras had stopped rolling and said, "Give us a kiss!"

Jed wasn't seen for a year between late 1961 and late 1962. This was because of the Equity actors' strike. See that article for more information.

Kenneth Cope's 2008 return was a suggestion of casting director June West. Tony Gordon's elderly victim was originally a character called Mr. Gamble, but West suggested that Jed Stone be brought back instead.