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Maudie Edwards

Actress, comedienne and repertory theatre founder

Maudie Edwards (born Elizabeth Maud Edwards, 1906 - 1991) was a Welsh actress and comedienne who spoke the very first scripted line of dialogue in ITV's 'Coronation Street' in 1960, playing shopkeeper Elsie Lappin: 'Now the next thing you want to do is get a signwriter in. That thing above the door'll 'ave to be changed.' Her career on stage and radio spanned the 1930s through to the 1970s.

Born in Neath, Glamorgan, Edwards came from a showbusiness family and was Welsh-speaking until around the age of four. In 1952 she restored the Palace Theatre in Swansea and reopened it with her own repertory company, The Maudie Edwards Players. During the Second World War she entertained troops, and her radio work included plays such as 'Welsh Rarebit' and 'Pink String and Sealing Wax'.

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The Neath-born actress who spoke the first scripted line of Coronation Street and founded Swansea's Maudie Edwards Players.

Edwards also lent her singing voice to other performers on film, dubbing tracks for Diana Dors in 'Diamond City' and Margaret Lockwood in 'I'll Be Your Sweetheart'. She appeared in the first two episodes of 'Coronation Street' before her character departed, but her greater legacy in Wales lies in her decades of stage work and her stewardship of the Palace Theatre repertory company in Swansea.

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Career Highlights

  • Spoke the first scripted line of dialogue in ITV's 'Coronation Street' (1960), as Elsie Lappin.
  • Restored Swansea's Palace Theatre in 1952 and founded The Maudie Edwards Players.
  • Entertained troops during the Second World War and appeared in radio plays including 'Welsh Rarebit'.
ℹ️ Maudie Edwards was born on the 16th of October, 1906, in Neath, Glamorgan.
ℹ️ Maudie Edwards died on the 24th of March, 1991.

Born in Neath and Welsh-speaking until around the age of four, Maudie Edwards built much of her stage career in South Wales, restoring and running Swansea's Palace Theatre with her own repertory company.

From: hattie
Married twice, Ralph Morgan and Colonel Bill Foulkes. Died in London on 24th March 1991.
From: angeljay
I would just like to say and add that I am a relative to the late Maudie Edwards. Also Will Hopkin the poet.
From: foxylady
My late father Ronny Lloyd was Maudi Edwards' nephew. He was from Llantwit Neath
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