Thelma Barlow

Barlow was born in 1929 in Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire, Her father, Tommy, a cabinet maker, died of pneumonia five weeks before her birth, aged 37, and Barlow was brought up by her mother Margaret. During her childhood the family moved to Huddersfield, West Riding of Yorkshire. Barlow left school at 15 and went to Huddersfield Technical College to study shorthand and typing. Her first job was as a secretary, which she held for eight years and at the same time belonged to Huddersfield Thespians - an amateur dramatics group. ==Early theatre==

Barlow decided to take up acting professionally and joined the Joan Littlewood Theatre Group. During the 1950s she did rep in Liverpool, Nottingham and Birmingham. In 1960 Barlow joined the West of England Theatre Company followed by the Bristol Old Vic Theatre Company. In Bristol she ran a boarding house for fellow actors. ==Career==

Barlow's earlier television appearance was in 1967's Vanity Fair. In 2024, she appeared on Good Morning Britain and said "it would be the pressure of the work that would frighten me to death". In 1990, Barlow appeared as a contestant on Cluedo, facing off against Ned Sherrin. Barlow's next major role was that of Dolly Bellfield in Victoria Wood's sitcom dinnerladies, In 2005 she played her first film role in Mrs Henderson Presents, for which she was nominated "Most Promising Newcomer" at the British Independent Film Awards 2005. In 2007 she portrayed Lady Thaw in the Doctor Who episode "The Lazarus Experiment". In 2016, she had a small speaking role in the film Florence Foster Jenkins. Since her departure from Coronation Street Barlow has acted on radio, In 2024, Barlow came out of retirement and returned to acting in a short film Sleepless In Settle. Directed by Judy Flynn and filmed in the town of Rye, East Sussex, Barlow played Barbara, a woman who is trying to find a wife for her son. ==Personal life==

She married Graham Barlow in 1956; their marriage produced two sons. The couple divorced in 1983. Barlow maintained her married name since all of her television and film credits, until her divorce and after, have been as Thelma Barlow. In 2003, Barlow moved to the Isle of Purbeck. ==Filmography==

Barlow was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) from Teesside University on 21 November 2008.{{cite web |url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/video/61379/?page=194 |title=Mavis gets a degree |last= ==References==