RIP Jean Alexander [Hilda Ogden]

[Lisa O`Brien]

Just heard this. Jean Alexander's character is iconic. I stopped watching Corrie when she left the show. Will never ever forget the last few moments of the episode where her on screen husband ,Stan had had his funeral. Bernard Youens who played Stan had died in real life. Hilda had been fussing around the guests in her house after the funeral, smiling away. Then she was left alone. She held the photo of Stan in her hands, and cried , and said "Oh Stan". Then she literally sobbed. We could hear her. It was real and it was raw. Me and my mum, and millions of other people watching sobbed with her. RIP Jean, and Ta for the memories.

Edited October 14, 2016 by Lisa O`Brien

[Jan McNulty]

So sorry to hear that Jean Alexander has passed away.

 

As well enjoying her brilliant characterisation of Hilda Ogden I remember seeing her in a pub in Southport on Saturday afternoons. While all the regulars respected her privacy she was always very gracious when anybody approached her. For me, she was a true star.

[Lisa O`Brien]

It was Stan's glasses she had brought back from the hospital that set her off crying, not his photo. Such a heartbreaking scene.

[Jacqueline]

I remember Hilda Ogden, with her flying ducks and murial on the wall. She was portrayed by Jean Alexander as a very real character, rather like Dierdre and Blanche when the day to day detail of their lives was not only cleverly written, full of observation and wit but in the hands of some really skilled actresses. I watched the programme because one felt one could relate to these people, you cared about them, even though they weren't real, their experiences were.

The show is a shadow of its former self in my opinion, for various reasons, mostly because it is now issue rather than character led. Hilda was so iconic, with her curlers and that voice and she was of her time. I can't imagine any of the current characters being remembered with such affection in 30 or so years time, if they are remembered at all.

[Jacqueline]

There is a tribute to Jean Alexander on ITV tonight at 8pm.

[Jacqueline]

There is a tribute to Jean Alexander on ITV tonight at 8pm.

This was, with some reservations, a very worthwhile tribute, with many interesting clips of the actress speaking for herself as to how the character of Hilda was created.

Some of the excerpts of Stan and Hilda in action were terrific, for the attention to detail, the dialogue and the way they put it across. As with some other actors who have died this year, it wasn't just that the parts were so cleverly written, it was what the actor brought to the role that made these characters so memorable.

I particularly liked Stan explaining to Hilda that he wasn't lazy, it was just that he and work had never really got along. She had a morning job and another in the evening, so perhaps she could think about getting a third job in the afternoon to make up the shortfall.

There were some cast members brought in to comment and for some reason, Philip Schofield. But as been said on another thread, he seems to be one of the current crop of ubiquitous presenters who appear on everything, no matter how irrelevant they may be to the subject.