Corrie: Stephanie Beacham for the street?

[faceless]

Stephanie Beacham set for role in Coronation Street
Nov 21 2008

FORMER Dynasty star Stephanie Beacham could be moving to Coronation Street. The 61-year-old - best known for her role as Sable Colby in the glamorous 1980s soap and its spin-off The Colbys - has auditioned for a role as a love interest for Ken Barlow.

A Corrie source said: "Nobody could quite believe it. It would be a great coup to get Stephanie on board. A final decision is expected in the next week or two."

-----------------

So what happens to Deirdre? Run down by a cigarette truck?

[faceless]

Stephanie Beacham - from The Colbys to Coronation Street
By Sue Crawford,
sundaymirror.co.uk
25/01/2009

A rain-lashed canal in the middle of Manchester is a long way from the glitz of Hollywood. But Stephanie Beacham - one-time star of Dynasty and The Colbys - is loving every minute of her new life on the cobbles of Coronation Street. She makes her screen debut tomorrow as Martha Fraser, a bohemian divorcee who Ken Barlow romances after telling her that wife Deirdre is dead. And Corrie is not the only new thing in 61-year-old Stephanie's life - she also has a new man.

"I am dating again... and he's older than me, which must be almost the first time ever," she says. "They've always been 27 and then they'd get kicked out at 32!" Her new man is a British doctor, in his mid-60s, based in Spain. They've been an item for nine months, but Stephanie doesn't want to name him. "He'd loathe it," she says. "Showbusiness is not his bag."

They were introduced by a friend and for the first three weeks the relationship was conducted entirely online. "It wasn't a creepy internet dating thing - in fact it was actually fascinating," she says. "You never know if there is any chemistry when you do meet so I was hideously nervous when we got together for the first time. It was a relief when we felt such a connection. I'm not choosing a white frock yet, but I'm surprised to be in this situation. I'd rather thought I was going to take time off work, get a dog and not think about men any more."

Stephanie, who is divorced and has two daughters, has homes in Malibu and London, but loves being back in Britain - not least to be close to her eight-year-old grandson Jude, who calls her Glamma, rather than Grandma. Raised in Barnet, North London, Stephanie first made her mark in the early 80s TV drama Tenko, then won worldwide fame a few years later in the hit US soaps The Colbys and Dynasty, playing ruthless rich bitch Sable Colby in both.

During her four years in the shows she became one of the best-known and best-paid stars in American TV and - 20 years on - admits it was hard not to get carried away by such fame and attention. "You are so used to being spoiled you don't even know that's what you expect," she says. "You become used to walking into the nail shop and saying, 'Quick, I've got a broken nail'. Never mind that there are 50 people waiting, your nail is obviously more important.

"But I don't miss any of it. You can't miss the pain of 7in heels. In Coronation Street I literally live in Ugg boots and 10 layers of thermals, but it's actually lovely to wear jeans and be comfortable every day. I'm in Manchester in the rain and cold and I'm filming by the canal. I've even developed a chest infection. But I am loving it."

Stephanie's Corrie character Martha is a divorced ex-teacher who dabbles in amateur dramatics and lives on a canal barge. Martha becomes involved with Ken Barlow, who convinces her that he is a widower. "Do you think I'm going to be spat at in the street?" jokes Stephanie.

Apart from a brief outing in 2007's Strictly Come Dancing, Coronation Street is Stephanie's first appearance on British TV screens since 2006, when she finished a fouryear stint in the cult prison drama Bad Girls. She says her two-year disappearance was deliberate and she briefly considered quitting showbusiness for good. But when her agent suggested auditioning for a new role in Coronation Street, she thought she might as well.

"I've been given a very lovely gift with this part, and I'm actually thrilled to bits to leave the glamorous dresses and shoulder pads behind for a bit," she says. "Here they say, 'Are you going to bring your own jeans in on Thursday?' - and I just couldn't be happier."

--------------

[Kezza]

I enjoyed her first scenes w/Ken - she looks fantastic as well. A great addition to Corrie!

Ken didn't go out of his way to tell her about Deidre, did he? That sly dog....

[faceless]

haha yeah, the dirty ole bugger!

His face when Dreary dumped the tin of soup into the pan was class...