JENNIFER MOSSA much-loved British actress who found fame as LucilleHewitt on the popular soap ‘CoronationStreet’, Jennifer Moss died aged 61 on 5 October, 2006.She starred as wild-child Hewitt for over 14 years, notchingup approximately 1,000 episodes of the long-running soap, as well as appearingboth onstage and screen in various musicals.Besides acting, the Lancashire-born performer also releaseda number of recordings with producer Joe Meek.She successfully battled alcoholism during the 1970s and,despite her failing health in later years, even made a spiritual pilgrimage toIndia in 2005.Jennifer Moss was born on 10 January, 1945 in Wigan,Lancashire. She became estranged from her mother, Dora, during her early yearsand it was at the tender age of 15, in 1960, that the budding young actressfirst joined the set of Coronation Street.Playing wild-child Lucille Hewitt, Ms Moss quickly became afirm fan favourite but the 1963 actors’ Equity strike forced her to brieflyseek work elsewhere.She eventually landed a role in a West End musical alongsideDavid Hemmings and also the beat movie, ‘Live It Up’, in which she sang ‘PleaseLet It Happen To Me’.Her singing talents did not go unnoticed for long and it wasin that same year that producer Joe Meek hired her to release a series ofsuccessful recordings, including ‘Please Don’t Say Goodbye’ and ‘When My BoyComes Marching Home’.Back at Coronation Street and with the death of her belovedfather, Reg, Ms Moss found herself slipping into alcoholism. It was a vice whichultimately saw her sacked from the soap in 1974 by producer Susi Hush for badbehaviour.Ms Moss later claimed that she drank to numb the pain of herfather’s passing and, during the late 1970s, sought support from AlcoholicsAnonymous.She successfully remained sober from 1978 but her healthreportedly continued to flounder and, of her three children, one died ininfancy and another, born with birth defects, was adopted by another family.After making a spiritual pilgrimage to India in 2005 where shestated she finally came to terms with her father’s death, Ms Moss died on 5October 2006, in Dunfermline, Scotland, aged 61.Her wish was to be buried next to her father, whosegravestone already bore the name ‘Jennifer Moss’ long before she died.She married five times during her life. Her fifth husband,Stephen Ramsden, who she married in 1989, survived her.Besides Coronation Street, Moss also appeared in BBCtelevision’s ‘June Evening’ and ‘Magnolia Street’.
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