Coronation Street legend Barbara Knox has been a part of the soap for six decades – making her the world’s longest-serving female TV soap star known and loved by millions

No one thinks of Coronation Street without the iconic Barbara Knox springing to mind – with the star being one of the longest-serving members of the soap. The famous actress, who is in fact the world’s longest-serving female TV soap star, first appeared on the cobbles back in the 1960s as Rita Littlewood and has been a part of the cast ever since.

As she features in a new ITV documentary tonight to mark her 90th birthday – Barbara Knox at 90 – The Mirror takes a trip down memory lane with some moments Barbara has shared with the world – from her career successes to her very private personal life.

Barbara when she started out on the soap(Mirrorpix)

A portrait of Barabra for her 90th

The popular actress, now aged 90, made her first appearance in Corrie in 1964 before returning again for good in the 1970s. She worked alongside comedian Ken Dodd on the Funny You Should Say That sketch show. Years later she revealed that she had to ask Ken’s permission if she could star in Coronation Street because of filming clashes.

Rita has always been a major character in the soap and to mark the soap’s 60th anniversary, she recalled her first outing on the set. In a video posted on Twitter from the Rovers Return, she said: “I want to tell you a bit about it, and I want to tell you I started right here, on this spot, all those years ago as Rita Littlewood.

“I’d come to sing at the Viaduct Club, but I had no digs so I came in here and Stan Ogden – Hilda Ogden’s husband – was very kind to me and said, ‘Sit down love and get her a drink, and Dennis Tanner will be here in a few minutes and he’s the manager of the Viaduct Club, he’ll find somewhere for you.’”

She admitted she “fell in love” with the show and its cast and crew. “And that to me just summed up the warmth and the kindness that I walked into, me, to play this character all those years ago,” she added. “And I fell in love with Coronation Street, and I never wanted to leave. Please, be loyal to us, as you have, because without you we have nothing really. I hope we’ve entertained you. I’ve loved it, I hope you have.”

Barbara during Coronation street’s filming in Majorca(ITV)

In a throwback photo Barbara shared to celebrate the show’s milestone of 10,000 episodes, the star was captured posing alongside stars Jean Alexander, Eileen Derbyshire, Thelma Barlow, Anne Kirkbride, Doris Speed and Julie Goodyear – as the group’s characters headed abroad for a sun-soaked girls’ getaway.

The trip took place in the 1970s, when the Coronation Street cast headed to Majorca, Spain for filming. And while the ladies had a blast abroad, there was drama back home as their male co-stars were left fuming that they were not invited on the jaunt.

Barbara revealed that in real life, the men were genuinely annoyed by the trip, saying on Corrie special 60 Unforgettable Years: “I’ll tell you a story out of school. We got word that the ladies were going to work in Majorca for a week and the men in the cast, the silly beggars, they wouldn’t speak to us. So off we went to Majorca and everyone thought they’re having a great time – but it was dreadful.”

John and Barbara Knox photographed in their suite at the Park Tower Hotel(Image: Mirrorpix)

Away from the soap, Barbara married beau Denis Mullaney in 1956, and they went on to have three children together – Maxine, John and Amanda. They ended up divorcing in 1977 with Barbara marrying her second husband John Knox the same year. However, it wasn’t to be and the couple parted ways in 1994. Despite the heartbreak in her personal life, Barbara’s acting career went from strength to strength.