First appeared: 14th December 1960
Last appeared: 3rd July 1963
Christine Hargreaves played the role of young independent woman Christine Hardman/Appleby between 1960 and 1963.
Born in Salford in Manchester in 1939, Hargreaves was trained as an actress in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and later starred on the stages of Northern England. In one production she starred alongside Arthur Leslie (Jack Walker) and it was indeed while acting with Arthur that they were both chosen to join the original cast of Coronation Street in 1960. Appearing in the second episode, 21 year old Christine Hardman felt trapped on the street and longed to escape. Amongst her storyline was losing her mother May to a brain tumour; a suicide attempt where old friend Ken Barlow had to talk her down from Ellison’s Raincoat factory rooftop; whirlwind romance and eloping with Colin Appleby in 1962 but he died in a car crash that year; and becoming engaged to Frank Barlow (26 year her senior) but called it off when she realised she didn’t love him. During her time on the Street, she worked at Elliston’s Raincoat Factory and later at clothes shop Miami Modes with Elsie Tanner and Dot Greenhalgh. She was promoted to a higher position in Miami Modes and was transferred. The last time Christine was mentioned on the street was when she sent a telegram to congratulate Elsie and Steve Tanner on their wedding in 1967 and by then was said to be residing in Southampton. During her three years on Coronation Street, Hargreaves appeared in 125 episodes.
Due to her short tenure, viewers struggle to remember Christine Hardman/Appleby. Although she secured many roles from the 1960s to the early 1980s, she wasn’t top of the bill. She played various roles in ITV Play of the Week (1962-1964), The Wednesday Play (1967-1970), Albert! (1969-1972), Softly Softly: Task Force (1972-1976), Z Cars (1962-1978), Play for Today (1970-1981), Crown Court (1978-1982) and Juliet Bravo (1980-1983).
Hargreaves died in 1984 aged 45 in London of liver failure after years of alcoholism. She made posthumous appearances in TV shows Mitch (1984) and Walter and June (1986) and films Nineteen Eighty Four (1984) and Nineteen Nineteen (1985). Christine’s fate hasn’t been addressed in the show.
Christine had married Klaus Voormann in 1965 and they had one child. They later separated.
Did you ever see or meet Christine Hargreaves? Do you have any pieces of trivia about her?
Research from Corriepedia, Wikipedia and IMDB.
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