Phyllis Pearce
Full name: Phyllis Pearce (née Grimes)
Parents: Joshua and
Violet Grimes
Born: 7 February 1921, Weatherfield,
Lancashire
Married: Harold Pearce (15 September
1946)
Children: Margaret (died 1977)
Played by: Jill Summers
Appeared: 20
September 1982 - 1 May 1996
We first saw widow Phyllis doing what comes
naturally to her - looking for a man. Though this time is was really to find her
grandson Craig Whitely, who had just moved into
No9 with his paternal grandfather, Chalkie
Whitely. Phyllis' daughter (Craig's mother) Margaret had died of cancer, and
Craig was the only family she had left. Within a few months Craig joined his
merchant seaman father, Bob, in Australia and Phyllis turned her attentions to
Chalkie. Chalkie couldn't cope with Phyllis' interfering and by August 1983 he
too sold up and joined Craig and Bob.
She was soon working with Gail Tilsley in Jim's Cafe, but she was eventually
retired when Alma Sedgewick took a more active
role in the business, though she still helps out in the cafe from time to
time.
Phyllis is basically a lonely lady, and is always on the lookout
for new companions - preferably male. For many years she has doggedly persued Percy Sugden, although his bowls rival Sam Tindall posed a useful attraction to try and
make Percy jealous, but to little avail. In 1993, she won a poetry competition
for a poem about her love for Percy, and in January 1996 her hopes rocketed as
Maud Grimes read Phyllis's tea leaves and told
her the man of her dreams was coming into her life. Sadly, Maud had mixed up the
cups!
There is one other man in Phyllis' life - Des Barnes. Des took pity on Phyllis when she lost
her cafe job and let her become housekeeper at Nº6. Although Phyllis has seen
plenty of Des' philanderings, she has always been discrete, though at times she
has had to turn a blind eye or give Des a good talking to.
