fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Helen Worth MBE (born Cathryn Helen Wigglesworth; 7 January 1951) is an English actress. She is best known for portraying the role of Gail Platt in the ITV soap opera, Coronation Street, a role that she has played since 1974. In 2014, she received the Outstanding Achievement Award at the British Soap Awards.

Helen Worth MBE
Born	Cathryn Helen Wigglesworth (1951-01-07) 7 January 1951 (age 71) Ossett, West Riding of Yorkshire, England[1]
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1961–present
Known for	Role of Gail Platt in Coronation Street
Spouse(s)	Michael Angelis ​ ​ (m. 1991; div. 2001)​ Trevor Dawson ​ (m. 2013)​

Early life

Cathryn Helen Wigglesworth was born to Alfred and Gladys Wigglesworth in Ossett and grew up in Morecambe, Lancashire. She was brought up in a middle-class family and attended private school.[2] When she was eight her parents fostered Ghanaian-born Wilson Kpikpitse, who was sent to England as an overseas student at the age of eleven and remained with the family for eight years, but moved on following the death of Worth's mother, who was killed in a hit-and-run road accident while she was on a visit to Brighton.[3]

Career

After graduating from drama school, Worth worked in repertory theatre, which included a year with the BBC Radio repertory company. She has had uncredited bit-parts in the films Oliver! (1968) and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969), and appeared on television in the Doctor Who story Colony in Space (1971), The Doctors, Helen: A Woman of Today (1973), Within These Walls (1974) and The Carnforth Practice (1974). She joined Coronation Street in 1974 and has remained with the soap since then.[4]

Worth has stated that she does not plan to leave Coronation Street, saying she's happy with Gail's never-ending drama, and that it's a job she loves. In an interview with GMTV in January 2010, Worth said she loves Gail's storylines and praised the writers for giving her some great plots over the years, and which she hopes will continue.[5] On 9 June 2014, a one-off special about Worth, Gail & Me, aired on ITV. The 30-minute documentary celebrated Worth's 40 years as Gail.[4]

Personal life

Worth has a house in London. She married Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends narrator Michael Angelis in 1991. Worth forgave Angelis when he admitted to an affair in 1995, but they divorced in 2001[6] after he had another affair with model Jennifer Khalastchi.[7] Following this, it was mistakenly reported by The Sun newspaper that Worth was dating London restaurant owner Simon Hopkinson.[8]

Charity work

Worth is a patron of the Born Free Foundation, an international wildlife charity working throughout the world to stop individual wild animal suffering and protect threatened species in the wild. She appeared on television fronting campaigns and joined them at the House of Commons in 2006, to speak about the proposed changes to the Animal Welfare Bill and campaign for the retirement of Anne, the UK's last remaining circus elephant.[9]

She is a supporter of the charity ActionAid and has visited Sierra Leone in support of its work there.[10]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1963	Z-Cars	Maisie	Episode: "By the Book", credited as Helen Wiggleworth)
1968	Oliver!	Urchin	Uncredited
1969	The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie	Schoolgirl	Uncredited
1969	A Handful of Thieves	Rosie	Recurring role
1970	Confession	Cynthia	Episode: “Just as the Sun Was Rising”
1970	The Doctors	Elsie Gibbs
1971	Doctor Who	Mary Ashe	Colony in Space
1971–1972	Time of Your Life	Pauline Jackson	Main role
1972	The Strauss Family	Elsa	Episode: "Schanni"
1973	Helen: A Woman of Today	Mandy	2 episodes
1974	Within These Walls	Betty	Episode: "The Group"
1974	ITV Sunday Night Theatre	Susan Pitt	Episode: "No Harm Done"
1974	The Carnforth Practice	Ann Pollock	Episode: "Undue Influence"
1974–present	Coronation Street	Gail Platt	Regular role; 3,936+ episodes
1981	Peter-No-Tail	Molly Silknose	Film
2010	East Street	Gail Platt

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Work	Result
2006	Inside Soap Awards	Outstanding Achievement Award	Coronation Street role as Gail Platt	Won
2014	The British Soap Awards	Outstanding Achievement Award	Coronation Street as Gail Platt	Won
2019	The British Soap Awards	Scene of the Year	Coronation Street as Gail Platt	Won
2019	BAFTA TV Awards	Must-See Moment	Coronation Street as Gail Platt	Nominated

Worth has been honoured twice with the Outstanding Achievement Award at awards ceremonies for her performance as Gail in Coronation Street. In September 2006, Worth won the "Outstanding Achievement Award" at the Inside Soap Awards. Then, on 25 May 2014, Worth won the "Outstanding Achievement Award" at The British Soap Awards 2014[11] Worth received the British Soap Award for Scene of the Year in 2019 for a monologue she performed, which was also nominated for a BAFTA TV Award.

Worth was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to drama.[12]

References

External links

• Helen Worth at IMDb

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