Barbara Ferris, the British actor best known for her role in Coronation Street, has died at the age of 85.
She passed away on 23 May 2025. A cause of death has not yet been disclosed.
Ferris was the older sister of Pam Ferris, star of Matilda and Call the Midwife.
In 1961, she briefly appeared in Coronation Street as Nona Willis, a barmaid at the Rovers Return pub.
Her time on the show was short-lived — she left after 10 episodes due to challenges with the northern accent required for the role.
Beyond soap operas, Ferris had a varied film career. Her credits included Children of the Damned (1964), Catch Us If You Can (1965), and The Krays (1990), which was her final screen appearance.
She starred alongside screen legends like Laurence Olivier (A Pair of Briefs, 1962), Oliver Reed (The System, 1964), John Cleese, and Donald Sutherland (Interlude, 1968).
Pam Ferris once credited Barbara with changing her life. “My older sister Barbara had emigrated to New Zealand with her husband and their tiny baby.
“I remained in Bridgend, Wales, with my parents, where my father worked for the police force,” she told MailOnline.
Pam said a phone call with Barbara became a turning point. “It was wonderful to speak to my sister, but that telephone call upset all of us because we missed her so much.”
Weeks of debate followed until it was decided that we’d move to New Zealand, where my parents could see their grandchild grow up.”
She added: “It was wonderful to be close to my sister again but there was so much more that I loved about my new surroundings.”
Fans have paid tribute to Barbara Ferris on social media.
One wrote: “Absolutely gutted to hear about Barbara Ferris. She had such a quiet grace on screen. Catch Us If You Can was a core memory from my childhood. Rest easy, Dinah.”
Another said: “We were lucky to have her.”
Barbara is survived by her husband, John Quested, and their three children: Nicholas, Christopher, and Catherine.
(INDEPENDENT)
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