Coronation Street actress Eileen Derbyshire 'to QUIT the ITV soap after 55 years'
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/coronation-street-actress-eileen-derbyshire-9251063
She is the show's longest-running female cast-member.
But
Coronation Street actress Eileen Derbyshire, 85, is set to quit the ITV soap after taking an extended 12-month break.
According to
The Sun, the veteran performer - who has played Emily Bishop in the drama since 1961 - will retire from the cobbles after nearly six decades, following a prolonged sabbatical that she took late last year.
A source said: "Eileen has been off for a long time, and there is no expectation that she will be back. All of her cast mates have accepted she won't be returning.
"She's 85 and has been out of the show for a year, so she probably would have found it tough to get back into the fast pace of filming."
Additionally, the source says Eileen - who was honoured with an MBE for services to drama in 2010 - will focus on quality time with her family instead.
Her departure will be the latest in a long line of emotional exits for the show's most famous stars, who grace TV screens up to five times a week.
In recent years, Michelle Keegan quit to embark on new career opportunities such as Our Girl, while Anne Kirkbride - who played Dierdre Barlow - died from breast cancer in January 2015.
Meanwhile, Jean Alexander - best known to British television viewers as Hilda Ogden - died in October.
