Dame Maureen Lipman has spoken about how the tearjerking death of her onscreen dog brought back recent memories of the loss of her own pet of 16 years.
Cerberus, the greyhound belonging to Evelyn Plummer, the character Lipman plays in Coronation Street, had to be put down after eating an Eccles cake from the floor of Roy's cafe and suffering kidney failure., reports The Mirror.
Maureen says: “The animal looked so hangdog on its last day, I swear he knew the storyline. It was incredibly sad. One of the girls in make-up asked if I needed a tear stick. I told her I needed something to stop me crying, not start me.”
Dame Maureen Lipman has said the death of her on-screen dog, Cerberus, made her think of her real-life dog (Image: ITV)
“Last year, my 16-year-old dog Diva had to be put down. She’d been coughing for weeks so I knew it was the end.
“The awful thing was, I was filming in Salford so I had to say goodbye to her on Zoom. It was horrible. The story with Cerberus brought all that back.”
The loss of her pet in the soap inevitably drives a wedge in Evelyn’s relationship with Roy. “She’s not a very forgiving person but, on the other hand, Roy is the nearest thing she has to a friend. They’re on opposite ends of the same spectrum.”
Dame Maureen lost her own dog, Diva, during the Covid pandemic (Image: Getty Images)
Maureen is about to uncover new layers of grief when she brings her searing performance of Rose to the West End in a two-hour monologue by playwright Martin Sherman.
Rose was a big hit when it eventually transferred to North London’s Park Theatre and now it will move into the West End at the Ambassadors Theatre from May 23.
Rose’s tumultuous journey takes her from the devastation of Nazi-occupied Europe to the allure of the American dream. Through the life of one woman, we see the story of a century where everything changed except the violence of the strong against the weak.
- Rose runs at the Ambassadors Theatre from May 23. Tickets available from www.roseonstage.co.uk
