Rita May
Rita May (born 5th May 1942 in Sheffield) appeared in Coronation Street as five different characters:
- 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.
Children's Ward[]
Rita appeared in every episode of Children's Ward (1989-2000) (known as The Ward from 1996 - 1999), which was an award-winning children's drama made by Granada and created by Street writers Paul Abbott and Kay Mellor. Rita played Mags and was the only person to last the entire run. Many future stars of Coronation Street made their TV debuts on the programme, including Chris Bisson, Vicky Binns, Alan Halsall, Chloe Newsome, Tina O'Brien and Nikki Sanderson. Other major Coronation Street actors to have had early roles in the show are Steven Arnold, Jane Danson and Paul Fox.
Other work[]
Other notable roles for Rita have been in comedy Early Doors and drama Drop Dead Gorgeous (which also starred former Coronation Street actors Lee Boardman, Sushil Chudasama and Kathryn Hunt, (who played her daughter)).
Her work on radio has 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 only TV role prior to playing Marjorie Pitts had been in two linked Play For Today's in 1977.
Personal life[]
Rita has two sons and is the widow of Geoffrey Wilkinson who himself had five roles in Coronation Street between 1979 and 2004.
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