Actress Dead at 94: RIP to Sheila Bernette

Actress Sheila Bernette, best known for her role as Sister Delaney on Coronation Street, has died. She was 94.

Bernette’s death was announced this week by the Royal Variety Charity, which cares for people who have worked in the entertainment industry in their older years. “Sheila will be very much missed by many of those who worked with her and those from the wider theatrical family,” the charity said in a statement.

Born Sheila Poncini on March 30, 1931, in London, Bernette’s acting career started in the 1950s, and she regularly appeared as the sidekick to stars like Dick Emery and Leslie Crowther before joining the long-running BBC variety show Good Old Days in the late 1960s.

In 1973, Bernette landed her role as Sister Delaney in Coronation Street, a character she would play in six episodes of Season 1.

The following year, she was cast as one of the original practical jokers in the UK version of the prank show Candid Camera, and later in her career, she starred in CBBC children’s sitcom Hotel Trubble as Mrs. Poshington from 2008 to 2011.

Her film credits include Three For All (1975), Car Trouble (1986) and Driving Aphrodite (2009).

In addition to her roles on screen, Bernette was a regular performer at the Players’ Theatre in Covent Garden and appeared in the 1970 Royal Variety Performance, as well as other productions at the London Palladium.

Following Bernette’s death, actor Peter Kosta paid tribute to his “very good friend” in a statement to The Sun, recalling how they met while starring in a play with Sir David Jason.

“I was looking for digs, and Sheila said: ‘Well, if you’re clean, I have a spare room in my house,’” he recalled. “She always supported me in everything that I wanted to do, and always came to see me in everything I did, whenever she could.”

He continued, “I have extremely fond memories of her.”