Nationality British Name Elizabeth Dawn Ethnicity English Role Actress | Occupation Actress TV shows Coronation Street Religion Roman Catholicism | |
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Full Name Sylvia Butterfield Born 8 November 1939 ( 1939-11-08 ) Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England Died 25 September 2017, United Kingdom Years active 1974–2008, 2010, 2012, 2015 Television Coronation StreetEmmerdale Awards The British Soap Award for Outstanding Achievement, The British Soap Award for Best Onscreen Partnership Similar People Bill Tarmey, Johnny Briggs, Thelma Barlow, Betty Driver, Julie Goodyear | ||
ELIZABETH DAWN TRIBUTE
Sylvia Butterfield MBE (born 8 November 1939), known professionally as Elizabeth Dawn or Liz Dawn, was an English actress, best known for her role as Vera Duckworth in the long-running British soap opera, Coronation Street. First starting on the serial in 1974, she had a recurring role as a factory worker until her husband, Jack, (played by Bill Tarmey) first appeared in 1979. She played the character of Vera for 34 years. For her role in the soap she received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2008 British Soap Awards. She was made an MBE in the 2000 Queens Birthday Honours.
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Career
Born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, Dawn started her show business career as a nightclub singer. By the late 1960s Dawn had ventured into acting, often taking small parts in television programmes as well as advertisements. One commercial for Cadbury's cookies proved very popular and helped her gain notice. During the 1970s, she appeared in a variety of programmes including All Creatures Great and Small and Colin Welland's play Leeds United, as well as an early appearance in Crown Court as a non-speaking background artist.
Dawn first appeared in Coronation Street 1974. She had a recurring role as a factory worker until her husband, Jack, (played by Bill Tarmey) first appeared in 1979.
In mid-2004, Dawn was diagnosed with the incurable lung disease emphysema. On 22 July 2007, Granada Television (makers of Coronation Street) announced that Dawn was to be written out – at her own request – before Christmas, because of further complications with emphysema.
Her final appearance came in the episode screened on 18 January 2008, when Vera Duckworth died in her sleep, thus ending 34 years of the popular, iconic character. Bill Tarmey, who played on screen husband Jack Duckworth, continued to be a part of the cast of Coronation Street. Dawn stated that the hardest thing about leaving Corrie was saying good-bye to Tarmey, with whom she was best friends. On 8 November 2010 she made a brief one-off return to the soap for the final scenes of her on-screen husband, Jack, who died in the same chair as Vera. Dawn appeared as Vera's spirit, who had come to take Jack on his final journey and the pair enjoyed one final dance together.
Dawn won the Special Achievement Award at the 2008 British Soap Awards for her decades-long portrayal of her iconic character.
Charity work
In May 2009, Dawn agreed to become the "Celebrity Ambassador" of the British Lung Foundation – the only UK charity working on behalf of all people affected by lung disease. She is currently working to raise awareness of COPD – an umbrella term for a list of diseases including chronic bronchitis and emphysema, of which she is a sufferer herself. In June 2009 she spearheaded the campaign "Breathe Easy Week", where members of the Breathe Easy network (patient groups associated with the British Lung Foundation) raise awareness of the work of the BLF.
Dawn died on 25 September 2017 after a long battle with COPD.
