Bradley was born
Joan Abraham in
Macclesfield, Cheshire, the daughter of a senior civil servant, and took her father's middle name as her stage surname. She filmed 476 episodes during this time. Bradley had previously played character Councillor Adams in the soap in 1978, but was credited then as Margaret Bradley. She has also made TV appearances in ''
London's Burning, The Bill, Casualty, Bad Girls and The Sweeney. Her film roles included Four Dimensions of Greta and The Flesh and Blood Show (both 1972) with director Pete Walker, and as the old woman who encounters a naked David Naughton at London Zoo in An American Werewolf in London'' (1981). She was also a successful theatre actress, obtaining an
Olivier Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress for her role in a National Theatre production of
Billy Liar. ==Personal life and death==