Beatrice Kelley

Beatrice Kelley (born 1941 in Farnley Hall, North Yorkshire) is a well-established actress whose TV credits include Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, The Grand, Dalziel and Pascoe, Phoenix Nights, Last of the Summer Wine, Burn It, Where the Heart Is, My Parents Are Aliens, Life on Mars, Ideal, The Visit, Casualty, Waterloo Road, Heartbeat, Doctors, Candy Cabs, Shameless and The Syndicate. She has appeared in Coronation Street in two different roles; Carol Palmer in 1996, and Barbara Deakin in 2014-15. The youngest of four children of Harold and Marjorie Smith, Beatrice spent many hours in Beech Hill cinema when films were shown continuously; a love of acting began here. She joined the Otley Junior Players and her first starring role was as a clockwork doll at the age of five. She progressed to the Sylvia Green drama school in Menston but continued her formal education as her parents wished and became a teacher in spite of having been told at Prince Henry's Grammar School that she was "not academic enough to teach".

However, Beatrice resigned from her teaching post when Prince Henry's would not put "A" Level drama on the curriculum. Having already obtained a degree and a diploma in drama, she obtained her Equity card at the age of 47.