Meg Johnson, an actress who starred in three of the most well-liked soap operas in the UK, passed away at the age of 86.
Before joining Emmerdale as Pearl Ladderbanks in 2003, Johnson, a veteran of the soap opera industry, played Brigid McKenna on Brookside and Eunice Gee on Coronation Street.
Her family, the talent agency Jorg Betts Associates, and ITV released a statement in which they praised her for being "kind and wonderful" and for always having "a twinkle in her eye.".
They recently claimed that she had dementia, but she "fought on" regardless.
They stated that they had to share the news of her passing "peacefully" on Saturday night "in the company of her family" with "great sadness.".
Meg was described as a wonderful woman who was kind and warm, and who always had a twinkle in her eye.
After being diagnosed with dementia, they claimed she had "an outstanding career" and had "battled on both personally and professionally regardless.".
Everyone who knew her will miss her dearly, they continued.
Numerous soap opera actors paid tribute to Johnson on social media, including her Emmerdale co-star Danny Miller, who expressed his "true devastation.".
Pearl was a decent description of our beautiful Meg, he said.
She was "a loved soul throughout the building," according to him, and was the originator of the expression "pig's bum," which she would utter whenever she forgot her lines.
The "late and great" Johnson, according to former cast member Gemma Oaten, was a "beautiful woman inside and out who was always so kind to me.".
Johnson, who was born in Manchester in 1936, appeared in a number of TV shows before making her Brenda Holden debut on Coronation Street in 1976.
She later joined the cast of the soap opera as Eunice Gee, a role she would reprise several times over the course of the following 20 years.
Along with the late comedian Dame Julie Walters and Celia Imrie, she was a member of the cast of Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV in the middle of the 1980s. In 1997, she appeared on stage as a member of the original cast of the London revival of Chicago, where she played prison warder Matron Mama Morton for more than a year.
She was hired as Brigid McKenna for Channel 4's Brookside in 2000, and she played the part there until the soap's cancellation in 2003. After that, she moved on to Emmerdale, where she spent 17 years playing the beloved Pearl Ladderbanks.
Charles Foster, an ITV Granada continuity announcer who was widely believed to have passed away earlier in 2023, was Johnson's husband.
