British actress Maggie Jones dies age 75

December 2, 2009

British actress Maggie Jones has died at the age of 75. The actress was best known for playing the role of Blanche Hunt in the British soap opera Coronation Street. She died on Wednesday morning in hospital. Jones played Blanche for 35 years but did not become a main character until 1999. Jones played several different characters on the set of the soap, originally appearing as a police woman in 1961.

Jones was admitted to hospital in October of this year for "life saving" surgery. It is still currently unknown what she was admitted for. The script writers for the show had to write her out of storylines. Because the show is written six weeks in advance she appeared up until recently.

An ITV spokeswoman released a statement acknowledging the passing of Jones. William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow on the show, said that Jones was a "brilliant actress" and had an "amazing dry wit". He added: "I don't think Maggie ever realised how much she was loved &mdash; not only by everyone on the show but by the millions of Blanche fans out there. She will be greatly missed."