Rita Tanner

Rita Sullivan (née Littlewood, previously Fairclough) is a fictional character on Coronation Street. She is played by Barbara Knox.

Info

Rita was introduced in 1964, although this was a one-off appearance. She returned in 1972 and has appeared consistently since then. Rita was the common-law wife of Harry Bates. She married Len Fairclough, but after eight happy years she was widowed when Len was killed in a car crash. After his death, she discovered he had been having an affair. (In reality, the actor had been written out of the show because of his involvement in a high-profile court case.)

Rita currently runs a newsagent's shop in the street, called "The Kabin", which she acquired during her marriage to Len. The shop was originally in Rosamund Street, but re-located to Coronation Street when a new building development took place. She met her second husband, Ted Sullivan, there; he was a sales rep for a firm of sweet manufacturers. Shortly before their marriage, Ted confessed that he was dying of a brain tumour. Rita then abandoned plans to retire abroad, and decided to stay in the Street.

The scenes in the Kabin are usually a comedy double-act between Rita and her assistant (first Mavis Wilton, now Norris Cole). Rita once gave Chesney Brown a clip around the ear for stealing from her shop, and Chesney's conniving mother Cilla attempted to sue Rita. She continues to hate Cilla, but has a soft spot for Chesney, once taking him in for a night when he had nowhere else to go.

As well as her two marriages, Rita has had three serious relationships, one with the violent Alan Bradley, who attempted to kill her. Later she became involved with Alec Gilroy, an old friend who had been her manager in her career as a pub singer, before her first marriage; this relationship ended when Alec moved away from Weatherfield. Finally, Rita met Anthony Stephens, a cultured man who wanted to marry her. His grown-up children interfered in the relationship, and Anthony went to live in New Zealand.

In recent years, it has been deduced that veterans such as Rita have been neglected in storylines to make way for younger stars such as Sarah, Maria and Candice. The producers have now decided to give Rita and the other veterans more storylines and they will once again become the focus of the show.