Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
2 appearances
Actress who played Bet Lynch on Coronation Street for 25 years, awarded an MBE for services to drama.
On the island
Eight records
These Boots Are Made for Walkin'
This was at a time when I just about had enough and I thought I'll get amazing. You keep saying you've got something for me, something you call love, but confess, you've been a messin'. Well you shouldn't have been a messin', and now someone else is getting all your best. These boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do. One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you.
My mother used to sing this song to me, and I honestly don't think there's a nicer way of learning for any child to learn the alphabet.
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
Long before Coronation Street I would have been about maybe fifteen, and decided that I was going to uh be a singer, went to Bury Pally with a few of my pals... I didn't get very far into the song before a meat pie was thrown at me, and it actually hit me in the face.
I've chosen that because it was all rock and roll at that particular time. Me and my mate Sue, we did the throwing up at the sides, up in the air. Coloured petticoats.
Because I that's exactly how I felt at that time in my life, that I had made it through the rain.
Because having my son, although it was yes, it was hard, but it was very special and Johnny Mathis's song just seems to sum it up for me.
(I've Had) The Time of My LifeFavourite
Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes
This was Scott's song. He had this played when we got married, and I think it sort of says everything.
I was invited by her to join in a jam session... and we sang this together. It will always remind me of receiving my MBE from Her Majesty the Queen for services to television and drama and escorted by my son.
These Boots Are Made for Walkin'
This was at a time when I just about had enough and I thought.
My mother used to sing this song to me, and I honestly don't think there's a nicer way of learning for any child to learn the alphabet.
I chosen Blue Moon by Nat King Cole, because long before Coronation Street I would have been about maybe fifteen, and decided that I was going to uh be a singer.
I've chosen that because it was all rock and roll at that particular time.
Because I that's exactly how I felt at that time in my life, that I had made it through the rain. And I love it.
Because having my son, although it was yes, it was hard, but it was very special and Johnny Mathis's song just seems to sum it up for me.
The Time of My LifeFavourite
Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes
this was Scott's song, he had this played when we got married, and I think it sort of says everything.
only because I was on the Royal Variety with other members of the cast of Coronation Street and Tina was topping the bill. And I was invited by her to join in a jam session with her at the very, very end of the show after we'd all met the Queen. And we sang this together. It was quite something. And it will always remind me of receiving my MBE from Her Majesty the Queen for services to television and drama and escorted by my son.
In conversation
Presenter asks
3:45What do you do day to day now?
Yeah. I have a thirty acre farm in Heywood where I live. I still do work. I don't do the ninety hours a week that I used to do, of course, because I'm the same age as Desert Island Disc. Indeed you are, yeah. I'm delighted about seventy one. But I like to work, you know, I don't want to retire.
Presenter asks
5:28What was it like walking on to set with those women [the older actresses]?
Terrifying. It really, really was. That was in nineteen sixty six. Respect was expected by these older ladies, and it was received. You didn't call anybody by their first name. It was Miss Speed, Miss Carson, Miss Phoenix. Betty was the only exception. But you'd have been in trouble if you sat in anybody else's chair, even accidentally.
Presenter asks
5:58When did you have to put vanity aside as an actress?
Yeah. I insisted on it, if it was an early morning scene, then there was no makeup, ever. And I didn't realize how unusual or rare that that was. You know, if I didn't wake up with a full makeup on, then why should Bette Lynch? For the character that I was playing, it I you know, it had to be absolutely correct. I mean, when I went into Granada Studios, I'd be in jeans, trainers, makeupless. What would have been the point in arriving in any other way? When I was usually at 7 a.m., the first in makeup to get ready to begin to turn into the character.
The keepsakes
The luxury
since she passed away on the eleventh of may, nineteen eighty seven, I've taken this everywhere with me. Wherever I've been, I take this, because I know she's on a journey, and this has helped me with grief, so I'd like to take this to the desert time.
Presenter asks
7:27Why did you only stay for a couple of weeks when you returned to Coronation Street in 2002?
I think by then it had gone to about five Eps. Yeah, five a week. So it came as a bit of a shock. Everything was sort of shot out of order and it just was not the way that I was used to working or could work. And I've got the utmost respect for people who do and who can work.
Presenter asks
22:47When did you cry?
In hospital. That was after my second marriage. I can't give you the exact date, but it would be in the seventies. And I found out that my son was saving up for a dad. It's pocket money. And any mother. What understand? And I met a a local gentleman who courted me, and he was an absolute gentleman. And eventually asked me to marry him. And I look to my son. and said yes. And we did get married and uh it was a very big affair, you know, the cast of Coronation Street were there. And I'd visited uh Ireland at the height of the bombing. So some of the lads had turned up in a Saracen tank. It was a hell of an affair, it really was. And uh it was at the reception. that uh I'm afraid he left with the best mum. And uh That was very difficult. It was very, very difficult. And Another shock. As you can imagine.
Presenter asks
28:10What funny memories stand out from working on Coronation Street?
There are so many. There is one that I do remember with Betty, and we'd been in Tatton Park Lake in ice-cold water filming. For a couple of days. And it was so cold it wasn't true. And we'd only been given a, you know, a plastic bin liner with two holes to put our legs through as protection. And there we were, you know, and the the the water was coming in the b holes had been bored in the side of the car and water was pouring in. And the car went into the water. Of course it did. And, you know, Betty was in the back, I was sitting in the front. And I remember her saying. Very quietly, you know, Oh, Julie, I really do need to spend a penny. And I said, But I've done it. And she said, No, you've not. I said, I bloody have. Do you honestly think it's going to make any difference? I said, Betty, we're wet through. And the pair of us just started laughing. Yeah.
Presenter asks
5:28When you walked on to set, the first time around, what was that like walking on to set with those women?
Terrifying. It really, really was. That was in nineteen sixty six. Respect was expected by these older ladies, and it was received. You didn't call anybody by their first name. It was Miss Speed, Miss Carson, Miss Phoenix. Betty was the only exception. But you'd have been in trouble if you sat in anybody's else's chair, even accidentally.
Presenter asks
10:28How old were you then when she died? How did it affect you at the time?
Very badly. Yeah. She drowned in the local canal. And I went into shop. And my mother stopped eating. Anorexia hadn't been heard of then. But that's absolutely what it was and I couldn't cry. Shock can do terrible things.
Presenter asks
22:41When did you cry?
Am I to be taught how to cry? In hospital. That was after my second marriage. I found out that my son was saving up for a dad. … And at the reception I'm afraid he left with the best man. … Eventually I did have a complete nervous breakdown. … I did have to go into hospital. For a month, and it helped. And I learned how to cry. It had been bottled up from the age of thirteen, obviously, when my grandmother had uh drowned. So it all came out. But I got well, and they helped me, thank God.
Presenter asks
25:27Did you find that you had to sort of reassess everything that you thought you knew? … Because the thing that it calls into question is well I thought I could trust my judgment. I can't trust my judgment.
Well, obviously I couldn't. I th I I just thought there must be something very wrong with me. You know, Gary's father left. He went to Australia shortly after my son was born. And now here I am, you know, my son was saving up for a dad. And he's gone. What is wrong with me? You do tend to blame yourself.
Presenter asks
28:10Are there memories, particularly funny memories that stand out?
There are so many. There is one that I do remember with Betty, and we'd been in Tatton Park Lake in ice-cold water filming. … And I remember her saying, very quietly, 'Oh, Julie, I really do need to spend a penny.' And I said, 'But I've done it.' And she said, 'No, you've not.' I said, 'I bloody have. Do you honestly think it's going to make any difference? I said, Betty, we're wet through.' And the pair of us just started laughing. Laughing until we cried.
“I just used to convince myself that I was recording it for my mum and a few of her friends.”
“I didn't realize how unusual or rare that that was. You know, if I didn't wake up with a full makeup on, then why should Bette Lynch?”
“I bent down and picked it up and had it.”
“I thought if you'd still got all your clothes on which I had, how could you be? There wasn't any sex education.”
“I learned how to cry. It had been bottled up from the age of thirteen, obviously, when my grandmother had uh drowned. So it all came out.”
“I'd like to take my mum's bus pass, because since she passed away on the eleventh of may, nineteen eighty seven, I've taken this everywhere with me. Wherever I've been I take this, because I know she's on a journey, and this has helped me with grief, so I'd like to take this to the desert.”
“Terrifying. It really, really was. That was in nineteen sixty six. Respect was expected by these older ladies, and it was received. You didn't call anybody by their first name. It was Miss Speed, Miss Carson, Miss Phoenix. Betty was the only exception. But you'd have been in trouble if you sat in anybody's else's chair, even accidentally.”
“She drowned in the local canal. And I went into shop. And my mother stopped eating. Anorexia hadn't been heard of then. But that's absolutely what it was and I couldn't cry. Shock can do terrible things.”
“Am I to be taught how to cry? In hospital. That was after my second marriage. … Eventually I did have a complete nervous breakdown. … I did have to go into hospital. For a month, and it helped. And I learned how to cry. It had been bottled up from the age of thirteen, obviously, when my grandmother had uh drowned. So it all came out. But I got well, and they helped me, thank God.”
“I just joined the queue with cleaners, Winosa Canteen and everybody else, really for a laugh, actually.”
“since she passed away on the eleventh of may, nineteen eighty seven, I've taken this everywhere with me. Wherever I've been, I take this, because I know she's on a journey, and this has helped me with grief.”