Coronation Street Legend Dies Decades After Controversial Plot Was Forced Off Air
Coronation Street star Eileen Mayers has died aged 94, as moving tributes flood in for her.
TL;DR
- Eileen Mayers, who played factory worker Sheila Birtles in Coronation Street, has died at 94.
- Her character's original storyline, a suicide plot, was controversially rewritten due to public backlash.
- Mayers appeared on the show from January 1961 to September 1963, with returns in 1966, 1969, and 1974, totaling 161 episodes.
- She began her acting career at 15 at the Oldham Repertory Theatre.
- News of her death was announced in The Times in July, stating she died on June 27, 2026.