Violet Carson played at the opening night of the Ambassador on Christmas Eve 1928 and played regularly there for 5 years as noted in this Manchester Evening News article about her opening the Popular Theatre Electronic Organ Festival at the Free Trade Hall, dated, Thursday 31 August 1978 -  Excerpt; "For Miss Carson (Coronation Street’s Ena Sharples) the opening night will provide a reunion with 69-year-old Reginald Liversidge, former organist at the old Ambassador Cinema, Pendleton where she spent her final years as a pianist before becoming a broadcasting personality and actress.

    The first time they met was at the Ambassador on Christmas Eve, 1928 and they worked together for five years."

Violet Carson and organist Reginald Liversedge had frequently performed at Sunday charity concerts to benefit institutions such as Salford Royal Hospital and the Salford Poor Children's Holiday Camp.

 

     Actress, singer, and musician Violet Carson, better known as Coronation Street's  Ena Sharples, was known for playing the grand piano in the orchestra at the Ambassador during its early years.* This fact was confirmed by the actress herself in an interview with the Nottingham Evening News on 6th July 1961, "Ask Miss Carson how old she is and she will purse her lips, then says reprovingly, "Never you mind." But she does not mind telling you that she was playing the piano in the orchestra of the Ambassador at Pendleton in the old silent film days."   

 

  She performed with her younger sister Nellie in a singing act called the Carson Sisters. In 1913, at the age of 14. she became a cinema pianist providing musical accompaniment for silent films, performing at various cinemas in Manchester and Salford. As silent films fell out of fashion following the arrival of "talkies", Carson took up singing.  Violet Carson was not only a skilled pianist but also a talented singer with a powerful soprano voice.

 

         On September 1, 1926, her 28th birthday, Violet Carson married 28-year-old George Frederick Peploe , manager of a building company at Manchester Cathedral, the church in which she was baptised 28 years previously. The couple registered their address as Mitre Hotel in Manchester. Throughout the marriage the couple lived at 1 Granby Road, Swinton. Sadly, after only two and a half years of marriage, George passed away from diabetes related illness in 1929 at the age of 31. They had no children, and she never remarried., instead she focused on her career.

 

    In 1935, Violet joined BBC Radio in Manchester, showcasing her versatility by singing a wide range of material, from comic musical hall-style songs to light operatic arias. She began her radio career with a show called "Songs at the Piano" and became a regular member of "Children's Hour" on the BBC Home Service. Additionally, she was the star of "Nursery Sing Song" from Manchester, where she often sang alongside producer Trevor Hill.

 

    In 1938, she provided piano accompaniment for two songs during an Al Bowlly recording session, which was released on a His Master's Voice 78rpm record, with Violet credited for her contributions. During the Second World War, she collaborated with the 'Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts' and served as a pianist for six years on the Wilfred Pickles radio show "Have A Go."

    Her extensive radio career included a five-year stint as a presenter and interviewer on "Woman's Hour," and she also performed in numerous radio dramas. It was during a children's program recording in 1951 that she first collaborated with Tony Warren, who would later become the creator of Coronation Street.

   

    Coronation Street made its debut on December 9, 1960, and Violet's character, Ena Sharples, delivered her first line, "I'm Mrs. Sharples, I'm a neighbour." The rest, as they say, is history. Violet portrayed Ena until April 2, 1980.

    She lived in a bungalow in Bispham, Blackpool, with her sister Nellie, and chose not to make any public appearances after her retirement.

Violet Carson passed away on Boxing Day 1983 at the age of 85 due to heart failure.

 

Before her iconic role as Betty Turpin, the beloved Hotpot Queen of the Rovers Return in Coronation Street, Betty Driver enjoyed a vibrant career as a singer and actress. In the 1930s and 1940s, she performed at various venues, including the Ambassador Cinema, where she was a popular fixture in variety shows and musical acts hich were common at the Ambassador Cinema alongside film screenings. 

 

Betty Driver was born in 1920 in Leicester and moved with her family to Didsbury, Manchester, in 1932, where her father worked as a policeman—a coincidence, as her on-screen husband Cyril in Coronation Street was also a police sergeant.

 

Driver began her professional performing career at just eight years old, encouraged by her mother to join the Terence Byron Repertory Theatre Company. By age 10, she was singing for the BBC, and by 12, she was touring the UK in her first revue.

 

In 1934 at 14, after a two-year stint in the West End revival of "Mr. Tower of London" (alongside comedian Norman Evans), Betty was approached by George Formby and his wife to appear in her film debut, "Boots! Boots! ", however, according to Driver, Beryl Formby saw her rehearsing and decided that she did not want to be outperformed by Driver, and sent her away.  A restored version of the film (including Driver's scene) has been released on DVD, which finally confirms her involvement in the film.

 

Her film credits include:

•        Boots! Boots! (1934)
•        Penny Paradise (1938)
•        Let's Be Famous (1939)
•        Facing the Music (1941)
•        Rooftop Rendezvous (1949–1950)
•        Love on the Dole (1967)

Thus, Betty Driver graced the Ambassador both as a live performer and on screen as an actress.

 

In December 1952, Driver married South African singer Wally Petersen, whom she met while working on The Betty Driver Show in 1949. The couple moved to South Africa, but Driver returned to the UK, penniless, after discovering her husband's infidelities. She was in such a bad financial state that her sister had to send her money to allow her to return home to the United Kingdom.  Although they separated after six years, they remained legally married until 1970.

 

After the breakdown of her marriage, Driver lived with and cared for her sister Freda until Freda's death in 2008. The sisters lived in Mellor, Cheshire, before moving to Hale Barns and later to Bowdon in Greater Manchester.

 

Driver originally auditioned for the role of Hilda Ogden in Coronation Street in 1964 but lost out to Jean Alexander. The following year, she appeared as Mrs. Edgeley in the Coronation Street spin-off series Pardon the Expression, where she suffered a back injury during a stunt and briefly retired to run a pub in Derbyshire with Freda.

 

In 1969, Coronation Street producer Harry Kershaw offered Driver the role of Betty Turpin, which she accepted, thinking it would only be for six episodes. She made her debut on 2nd June 1969, "So this is your famous Corner Shop." (First line, to sister Maggie) and her character became a staple of the show for decades.

 

In May 2011, Betty Driver was hospitalized with pneumonia and passed away on 15th October 2011. Her final episode aired on 27th May of that year.

 

    Actor Bernard Youens, best known for his role as Stan Ogden, the workshy husband of Coronation Street's Hilda Ogden, is seen in a memorable moment presenting a cheque worth over £900 to the fortunate prize bingo winner, Mrs. O'Neil, at the Ambassador Mecca Casino. Assuming this occurred around 1965/6,  then £900  would be equivalent to £20,675.91 today. This was a considerable sum of money given that the average working wage was about £20 per week for men and half that for women.

    Can't help but wonder if Hilda would approve of Stan's interaction with another woman, given her previous suspicions about Stan's interactions, particularly her unfounded concerns about his relationship with Elsie Tanner of all people, as if glamorous Elsie would have given slovenly Stan a second look.

    Born in Hove, Sussex, Bernard Youens began his stage career at just 16, starting as an assistant stage manager at the Players Theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne. His early work also included a role as a continuity announcer for Granada Television in May 1956, where his smooth, velvety voice stood in stark contrast to the gruff character that would later make him a household name. Alongside his announcing duties, Youens took on minor roles in several ITV series and radio plays.

    In June 1964, Bernard joined Coronation Street as the beloved Stan Ogden, delivering his first iconic line: "A pint of mild and 20 fags, missus." Sadly, his later years on the show were marred by ill health, and his final appearance aired on 7 March 1984. Following a minor stroke in May 1984, he developed gangrene in his left leg, leading to its amputation in July. Bernard Youens passed away peacefully in his sleep at Salford Royal Hospital on 27 August 1984, at the age of 69.