Rita May (born "Rita Gilbert" on 5th May 1942 in Sheffield) appeared on Coronation Street in five roles:
- Taxi driver Marjorie Pitts in September 1978
- British Legion barmaid Freda Woods in June 1981
- Prospective Park Road B&B buyer Mrs Wilberforce in September 2000
- Lollipop Lady Brenda Kelly in November 2001
- Connie Rathbone, appearing between April 2009 and December 2010.
She is best known for appearing as Mags in every episode of the award-winning children's drama Children's Ward made by Granada Television and created by Coronation Street writers Paul Abbott and Kay Mellor. Her other television credits include roles in The Gathering Seed, The Bill, Heartbeat, Casualty, Fat Friends, In Deep, Doctors, Early Doors, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Sunshine, Trollied, Ackley Bridge and The Syndicate.
Film roles include The Gamekeeper, Looks and Smiles, When Saturday Comes, Fanny and Elvis, In the Loop, Walk Like a Panther and Everybody's Talking About Jamie.
On stage, she appeared in productions of Jokers and Silver Lining, while her work on radio included a regular role in Radio 4 Comedy Ed Reardon's Week and, in 1982, a play by Tony Robinson entitled Paula's Tape (aired as an episode of Thirty Minute Theatre), which earned her a Best Actress nomination in the Sony Radio Awards.
In 1981, a play she had written, One Hundred and Eighty!!! was screened as part of BBC2 Playhouse. The following year another of her plays, England's Green and Peasant Land - which she also starred in - was screened as part of BBC1's Play for Today strand.
Her late husband, actor Geoffrey Wilkinson, himself appeared on Coronation Street in five roles.
