was one of the original characters of the long-running British
Soap Opera , ''
Coronation Street ''.
Minnie, played by
Margot Bryant from
1960 to
1976 , was a very timid woman who paled in comparison to her loud friend
Martha Longhurst , and her louder friend
Ena Sharples . Minnie was known to be very indecisive, which usually led Ena to label her as slow-witted, or usually just "daft".
From
1960 to
1962 , Minnie lived with her bossy mother, Amy Carlton. When Amy died, Minnie moved from Jubilee Terrace to No. 5 Coronation Street, where she lived with her cat, Bobby. Bobby, an orange
Tabby , was played by multiple cats over the years, and it was even explained on the show that it wasn't the same cat; the character Albert Tatlock accidentally killed the real Bobby in
1969 and replaced it so Minnie wouldn't be devastated.
She considered moving in with, and eventually marrying,
Albert Tatlock in
1974 but realized that she would be financially burdened by Albert, as Ena told her that she would receive just £1250 for a married couple while she already received £775 in pensions as a single occupant. She also found that Albert annoyed her considerably. To mutual relief, Minnie called off their engagement.
An old flame, Handel Gartside, came back to woo her after he had made much money in a business venture in
Quebec . She flirted with him for a while but he was eventually driven off by crooked business with
Billy Walker . Minnie's old lodger, Joe Donnelli, came back to the Street and held her at gunpoint, as he became very nervous about being prosecuted for the murder of
Steve Tanner .
Stan Ogden came up to Minnie's apartment, ready to fight with Joe as he had had a dalliance with his daughter
Irma . Joe made Stan sing
Christmas Carols at gunpoint, and eventually Joe shot and killed himself.
In
1976 , Handel Gartside returned and Minnie accepted his offer to live with him in Whaley Bridge. She left her friend Ena and was never seen on the programme again.
