Happy birthday, Helen Worth

Today is the 57th birthday of one Cathryn Helen Wigglesworth, better known to Coronation Street fans as Helen Worth - or her alter ego, Gail Platt.

She's been a Corrie regular since 1974, when Gail was a fresh-faced young thing - read all about Gail's time in the Street in Tvor's character study of her here.

Helen was born near Wakefield in Yorkshire, but was brought up in Morecambe, Lancashire. Her granny ran a boarding house in Bradford for theatrical types, and this is what inspired Helen to go into acting herself. She started early - by the age of twelve she'd already completed a West End run as one of the Von Trapp children in The Sound of Music.

She had various TV roles, including an appearance in Doctor Who alongside third Doctor Jon Pertwee in 1971, but for over thirty years she's been a household name as long-suffering Gail Platt. In 2006 she was awarded an outstanding achievement award at the Inside Soap Awards.

So let's all pop over to t'Rovers, order a pint of something unspecific and wish Helen Worth a very happy birthday!