Poppy Lane (born "Vera Doreen Wilson" on 3rd April 1933 in York, died 27th November 2002 in Leeds) appeared on Coronation Street in three roles:
- Camera Shop customer Mrs Barnes in February 1971
- A woman in the corner shop in February 1978
- Freda Loftus, the wife of bookies clerk Ted, appearing in May 1978
She also had numerous uncredited non-speaking roles in the show until 1995. Her other credits include A Family at War, Strike: The Birth of Solidarity and Soldier and Me. She died in 2002 after a short illness, her last TV appearance being in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates in 1998. In 2009, a plaque in her memory was erected on one of the seats at the York Theatre Royal, a place she had been fond of visiting during her life. She would never speak about her "other role" as an actress, and worked as a nurse up to her retirement in 1993. She was also the second cousin of former Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. On a shopping trip in York in the early 1990s, she was surprised when a shop assistant recognised her as Freda Loftus!!
