Elsie Tanner (also Howard) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Pat Phoenix from the series' inception in 1960 to 1973, and again from 1976 until 1984. Elsie Tanner was one of the original core characters on Coronation Street and appeared in the first episode. She is considered to be an icon in soap history and regarded as one of the greatest ever characters to appear in Coronation Street.
Her final appearance came in January 1984, when Elsie immigrated to Portugal. Phoenix decided to quit the series in 1983 to pursue other projects.
Three years after leaving, Phoenix died, and a few months later, in the VHS special The Lives and Loves of Elsie Tanner, Anne Cunningham returned as Elsie's daughter Linda, hinting about Elsie's previous passing and including archive footage for flashbacks. However, 24 years later, when Philip Lowrie returned as Elsie's son Dennis Tanner, it was revealed that Elsie had died in a car crash, along with Bill Gregory, in 2004 meaning that the VHS release is not part of the canon of the show (on which these events have not been mentioned).
In 2011, it was revealed that she and her son Dennis were related to Eileen Grimshaw and Julie Carp, as Elsie's cousin, Arnley Grimshaw, was their grandfather.
Development
Characterisation
Elsie is dubbed as the "siren of the street throughout the 1960s". She is described as being feisty and bolshy, but with a good heart, and is also said to have a passion for men, but was hurt by all of them. In Larry Warren's book Left at East Gate a First Hand, he joked about the probability of UFO landing being "as unlikely as Elsie Tanner getting into a nunnery" and branded her as having dubious morals. In Women and soap opera: a study of prime time soaps, Christine Geraghty describes Elsie as having open family situations to deal with in her later years. She stated that Elsie always seemed ill-equipped to offer other characters advice on their love lives when they needed it.
Cultural references
"Wrap Her Up", a 1985 single by Elton John and George Michael, mentions Elsie Tanner in a roll call of strong famous women's names at the end of the song.