Coronation Street Star Dead: Sister of Pam Ferris comes from the age of 85 years after decades of career

Crowning street Star Barbara Ferris died at the age of 85.

The actress was known for playing barmaid Nona Willis at the Rovers -backkeer, but left the soap after 10 episodes because she had trouble understanding the Lancastric accent.

Barbara also had a role in Catch us if you can and children of the damned. Her last film role came in 1990, in The Krays by Peter Medak.

Her younger sister Pam also went into acting, recently in the lead role as Sister Evangelina Call the midwife.

They also had another brother or sister Liz, a champion Springboard Diving Champion, who won a bronze medal at the Rome 1960 Olympic Games.

Barbara, who is survived by her husband and their children, Nicholas, Christopher and Catherine, died on May 23, 2025.

From A-list scandals and red carpet accidents to exclusive photos and viral moments, subscribe to the The new showbiz newsletter from DailyMail to stay in the loop.

Coronation Street -star Barbara Ferris died at the age of 85 (depicted with James Bolam in oranges and lemons)

The actress was known for playing bark girl Nona Willis at the Rovers Return (photo) but left the soap after 10 episodes because she struggled to understand the Lancastric accent

Barbara’s younger sister Pam also started, recently in the lead role as Sister Evangelina in Call the Midwife (shown in 2013)

Barbara’s younger sister Pam previously told the mail how her sister ‘changed her life’.

In an interview from 2014, Pam explained that Barbara was responsible for her move to New -Zeeland at the age of 13, where she fell in love with acting.

She explained: ‘My older sister Barbara had emigrated to New -Zeeland with her husband and their little baby. I stayed in Bridgend, Wales, with my parents, where my father worked for the police.

‘We didn’t have a phone at home, so one afternoon we made sure she would call us in our local telephone box. We all crawled around the recipient.

‘It was a huge emotional phone call because in those days she had been just as good in a different world. She had traveled by boat and letters and rare phone calls were our only form of communication.

‘It was great to talk to my sister, but that phone call made us all upset because we missed her so much. Weeks of Debate followed until it was decided that we would move to Nieuw -Zeeland, where my parents could see their grandchild grow up.

‘I had already had a nomadic childhood, caused by my father’s career Fred as a civil servant and with the police.

‘I was born in Germany and moved to Wales when I was six. I was used to being flexible about setting roots and making new friends.

‘Then, 13 years old, I was transported to New Zealand. It was great to be close to my sister again, but there was so much more that I liked my new environment.

‘I remember that I didn’t need a winter coat and rarely wore shoes because you could walk barefoot. A few years later I also had a nice boyfriend with a speedboat.

‘Welsh Schooling led to New Zealand, so I immersed my fingers with boredom in the classroom. However, I enjoyed drama and my teacher encouraged me to become a member of an amateur dramatics group that I loved. I soon knew that I wanted to become a professional actress.

‘I started training in a theater company in Auckland and the more experience I gained, the more diverse roles I wanted to play.

‘At the age of 21 I was cast as Britannia, the nude, in the piece The Entertainer. However, Zeelanders were a bit prudish, so I was not allowed to be Grimmers. I stood on a plinth and wore three micro -bondsjacks, for which I was grateful.

‘As much as I worshiped my sister, her family and my parents, I knew at the age of 23 that I had to return to London if I had to live well as an actress.

“It was a huge decision and a very painful thing for all of us. Fortunately, the move to London worked well for me. I got a cop and enough work to live somewhere. Long before the series such as The Darling Buds of May and The Matilda and Harry Potter films I was cast in beautiful TV dramas such as the rag trade.

‘My parents have now died, but Barbara still lives in New Zealand, and nowadays we fly to see each other as often as possible.

‘The older we get, the closer we get. And if it hadn’t been to her phone call that afternoon, my life could have been very different. ‘