Noele Gordon

Helena Bonham Carter plays the main character of Noele Gordon, who was known for her acting in Crossroads, and famously named 'Queen of the Midlands.

The show has been described as "almost an exclusive backstage pass to Crossroads". men dictate how women are perceived and the show really puts that into light and tackles those conversations.” Davies explained that in the industry she was depicted as a "diva" and a "show monster".

This forgotten TV titan, played by Helena Bonham Carter in a new ITVX drama, deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as soap icons such as June Brown ...

Then she went to the press, telling reporters that she had been sacked in tones so emotionless it was like the executive in question “was reading a weather report”. By 1985, producers were hatching plans for her to make a return to the soap – but Gordon, who had been diagnosed with stomach cancer, was too ill to do so, and died in April that year. Her gravestone hails a woman who “devoted her life to her career”. It was her role as Meg Mortimer in Crossroads, though, that would cement her status as “the Queen of the Midlands”. The viewing public sprang to her defence, gathering outside ATV Birmingham with “Save our Meg” and “Meg is magic” placards. Plus, Nolly’s TV nous meant that she liked to comment on the production – and to get her own way. Meg had more than her fair share of bizarre storylines: one husband tried to poison her to take her money, and she even ended up behind bars for knocking the postman off his bike (she’d swerved to avoid hitting a cat). On the advice of both her agent, Lew Grade, and Valentine “Val” Purnell, the married impresario and TV exec with whom she had a 20-year affair, she spent a year studying television production at NYU. “She is adaptable and easy to teach,” her instructor Arthur Penzer remarked in a promotional piece for TV Times. Before she made her debut on the famously rickety sets of Crossroads in 1964, Gordon’s showbiz career took her from the West End stage to her own chat show. Born on Christmas Day in 1919 and given a festive middle name, Joan Noele Gordon made her stage debut as a toddler at the East Ham Palace in London. After watching the show’s beloved Midlands motel go up in flames, hundreds of viewers picked up the phone in tears to ask one question: would Meg Mortimer, the onscreen alter ego of actress Noele “Nolly” Gordon, make it out of the blaze alive?

Real life drama Nolly launches on ITV this week and remembers the life and career of Crossroads legend Noele Gordon.

However, Noele was too ill for this to happen. Noele's shock dismissal arrived when ATV was in the process of being re-constituted into a new company, Central Independent Television. [READ MORE: What happened to Crossroads?

Russell T Davies' new series Nolly is about one of the 70s biggest TV stars. So, who was Noele Gordon?

So she was a great source of information." It's men in offices in suits deciding on what women should be doing, what they should be like, as Nolly says in the show." Noele played the role of matriarch Meg until she was sacked in 1981, as depicted in Russell T Davies's Nolly. "I had the most fun I've ever had, because I got to speak to the entire cast. However, she had also upset a lot of people, in fairness, she did rub people up the wrong way, Charles Denton and people like that. [Helena Bonham Carter](https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a38334740/crossroads-drama-itv-helena-bonham-carter/) stars as Noele – known to her friends as Nolly – and the drama joins her at the height of her success in [Crossroads](https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a849739/itv-endeavour-crossover-soap-crossroads/) and follows Nolly's story as she is unceremoniously sacked from the show in 1981. "She was fantastically multi-faceted," actress Helena Bonham-Carter said in an interview for the launch of Nolly. Noele died of cancer in 1985, just before she was due to return to the soap. In an interview with the She played Meg Richardson, a widow who turned her large house into the Crossroads Motel and ran it with her children, Jill and Sandy. in 1937, the same year that she changed her name to Noele Gordon. "I spoke to all her friends, who were incredibly generous, and that was very telling, because they really loved her.

Who stars in Nolly? Helena Bonham Carter. Academy Award nominee Helena stars as the title character Nolly. She said: “Noele Gordon was a fascinating, complex, ...

“Nolly is a bold exploration of how the establishment turns on women who refuse to play by the rules, the women it cannot understand and the women it fears. And at last, the biggest question of all can be answered – why was she sacked? She said: “Noele Gordon was a fascinating, complex, brilliant and gutsy woman – none of which I knew before I read Russell T Davies’ script. The ITV synopsis reads: “Noele (or Nolly to her friends) was a legend in her own lifetime. She was the first woman to appear on colour TV, and the first to interview a prime minister when she sat down with Harold MacMillan for what was then ATV News. With the boss’s words “all good things must come to an end” ringing in her ears, Noele Gordon found herself thrown out of the show that was her life for over 18 years. He died of Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1981 aged 35. Russell’s screenplay is a work of brilliance and I hope I’ll do him and Nolly justice. She starred as Meg Mortimer, the lead character of long-running soap opera Crossroads, but was suddenly and controversially removed from her position in 1981, during the soaps heyday. She had every right to be, because she was experienced, and not only from her 17 years on the Crossroads set. After her sudden departure from Crossroads, millions across the country began speculating as to why and what must she have done. She disciplined them a bit, but she’d teach them good studio manners and good professionalism.”

Who was Noele Gordon? The true story behind Russell T Davies' Nolly with Helena Bonham Carter, as ITVX TV show on Crossroads star launches.

but he wasn’t convinced that they’d succeed. While speaking to Metro.co.uk and other media, Russell said that it was ‘very straightforward’ casting Helena as the main character in the new ITVX drama. The decision to drop her from the cast was made in the hope that viewers would desert Crossroads, giving the network ATV more leverage to give it the boot altogether in favour of other programmes. At the start of the soap, the story was centred around Meg and her rival sister Kitty Jarvis (Beryl Johnstone), with the former setting up a motel in her home. Noele died in 1985 at the age of 65 after suffering from stomach cancer, after her diagnosis became public knowledge a few years prior. Noele proved that she was a woman of many skills as a presenter and producer, helming Associated Television’s The Weekend Show, as well as launching a programme called Tea With Noele Gordon. When the scenes were being filmed in 1975, thousands of people turned up in real life to show their support for Meg, with millions tuning in to watch her tie the knot from their homes. From breaking boundaries as a TV presenter to the plethora of fans who adored her across the nation while watching her run her motel in Crossroads as Meg Mortimer, Noele led a varied and successful career. [for her role in the programme](https://metro.co.uk/2023/02/01/helena-bonham-carter-noele-nolly-gordon-legitimises-my-bossy-side-18196573/), she was unceremoniously axed in a shock decision in 1981, with [Doctor Who](https://metro.co.uk/tag/doctor-who/?ico=auto_link_entertainment_P2_LNK1) showrunner [Russell T Davies](https://metro.co.uk/tag/russell-t-davies/?ico=auto_link_entertainment_P2_LNK2) dramatising the events that unfolded in new ITVX TV show Nolly, with [Helena Bonham Carter](https://metro.co.uk/2022/12/02/nolly-first-trailer-of-helena-bonham-carter-in-russell-t-davies-drama-17870228/). Born Joan Noele Gordon on Christmas day in 1919, Noele became a pioneer in the world of media and entertainment. After attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, Noele embarked on her acting career, appearing in stage productions including The Lisbon Story and Brigadoon. When she was a child, she became a part of history on TV, as she was involved in John Logie Baird’s first ever colour transmission on July 3 1928.

It follows the life of Noele Gordon, one of the nations most famous and beloved soap actresses in the 70s. QUAYSTREET FOR ITVX NOLLY EPISODE 1 ...

“Nolly is a bold exploration of how the establishment turns on women who refuse to play by the rules, the women it cannot understand and the women it fears. Arnold was also a playwright, and also went on to star in The Flaxton Boys, Thriller and Hogg’s Back. She said: “Noele Gordon was a fascinating, complex, brilliant and gutsy woman – none of which I knew before I read Russell T Davies’ script. He also played the elderly bumbling Private Godfrey in TV sitcom Dad’s Army (1968–1977). The ITV synopsis reads: “Noele (or Nolly to her friends) was a legend in her own lifetime. And at last, the biggest question of all can be answered – why was she sacked? She was the first woman to appear on colour TV, and the first to interview a prime minister when she sat down with Harold MacMillan for what was then ATV News. With the boss’s words “all good things must come to an end” ringing in her ears, Noele Gordon found herself thrown out of the show that was her life for over 18 years. Russell’s screenplay is a work of brilliance and I hope I’ll do him and Nolly justice. She disciplined them a bit, but she’d teach them good studio manners and good professionalism.” After her sudden departure from Crossroads, millions across the country began speculating as to why and what must she have done. She had every right to be, because she was experienced, and not only from her 17 years on the Crossroads set.

Helena Bonham Carter portrays famed actress Noele Gorden in the new ITV drama, Nolly · What happened to Noele Gordon after she was sacked from Crossroads?

Sadly, however, it wasn't to be as, on April 14th 1985, a 65-year-old Nolly passed away from cancer. Later, in 1982, it would become public knowledge that Noele Gordon had been tragically diagnosed with cancer, which prompted her to undergo two major operations. Amassing positive reviews for her on-stage performances, despite enjoying great success, the actress was later involved in a traumatic incident in which a 'crazed fan' attempted to stab her. Luckily, the TV star was saved by Sharan Roberts, another of her fans, meaning that Noele was thankfully unharmed. Famed for portraying Meg Mortimer on Crossroads, the series follows the many trials and tribulations experienced by a heartbroken Noele, after her Crossroads contract was famously – and shockingly – terminated in 1981. Keep reading for all the details on Noele Gordon's later years…

RUSSELL T Davies' portrait of Noele Gordon, known to millions as Meg Mortimer in the long-running soap Crossroads, begins with the usual disclaimer about ...

It was the start of the 1980s, the beginning of a new era of brashness. The resulting frenzy, and huge leap in viewing figures, were the envy of producers the world over. The question is asked over and over throughout the trio of hour-long episodes: “Why did they do it?” Her fans are in uproar, the red tops start petitions to save her. The hair is not quite right, and she is girly and slight. Nolly was still big, in the eyes of her fans most of all, but not big enough for where the small screen was headed. Her producer attempts to usher in changes, at one point trying to sneak in a character with a working class Brummie accent to reflect the soap's Midlands roots. Maybe it was the fur coat, back here in all its splendour. Nolly rewrites the script as she goes, the crew too terrified to say anything, not least because her changes are spot on. It's the RP way or the highway. After introducing himself – “I’m John Logie Baird” – he tells the young Noele that she is the first woman in the world to appear on colour TV. I drove past her at the bus stop.” Later she becomes the first woman to interview a Prime Minister on television.