92-Year-Old Soap Opera Legend Makes Rare Public Appearance

Actress Barbara Knox, 92, who famously plays Rita Tanner on the British soap opera, Coronation Street, made a rare public appearance.

On October 19, Knox posed during the Variety Club Showbusiness Awards 2025, held at London’s Londoner Hotel. While at the event, Knox opted to wear a black top, matching pants, and a long jacket, adorned with gold beading. She wore her signature short red hair in voluminous waves.

During the event, Knox stood alongside her Coronation Street co-star William Roache, 93, who plays Ken Barlow. PA Media reported that both Knox and Roache received the Gold Heart Legacy Award for Outstanding Contributions to Television during the Variety Club Showbusiness Awards 2025.

According to the website for the Variety Club Showbusiness Awards, the event not only celebrates those in the entertainment industry but also raises “vital funds for disabled and disadvantaged children.”

Knox first appeared as Rita in an episode of Coronation Street in 1964, per IMDb. According to IMDb, Knox began being a series regular in 1972. The actress is still a cast member on the show, as reported by IMDb.

In a 2017 interview with Lorraine, Knox said she would like to stay on Coronation Street, which premiered in 1960, for as long as possible.

“I would like to keep working. I really would. It is marvelous. It’s stimulating. You get fed up. You get tired. And yet at the end of the day, you go, ‘Oh thank god. That’s wonderful to work.’ So I would like to,” said Knox during the 2017 interview.

In addition, the actress said she still remembers her first day on the Coronation Street set.

“I do because it was that wonderful team,” said Knox.

She then shared that she was so nervous about playing Rita for the first time that she lost her voice.

“I lost my voice. I did. It was nerves,” said the Coronation Street actress.