Vicky Entwistle

Who is Vicky Entwistle?

Victoria "Vicky" Entwistle is an English actress who is most famous for playing the role of "loudmouth" factory worker Janice Battersby in ITV's long-running soap opera Coronation Street.

Entwistle grew up in Accrington; her father owned a newsagent's shop in Clayton-le-Moors. She attended the Rhyddings Business and Enterprise School in Oswaldtwistle, and at the age of 16 she commuted to Blackpool to study drama while working nights at a local supermarket. For a time, she worked as a Bluecoat entertainer at Pontin's in Devon before she was won a scholarship to attend Drama Centre London, from which she graduated in 1992.

Entwistle returned to the stage as Hanna in Merlin before gaining the role of Amy in BBC's Our Tune. When not acting, she lived on the dole but took part-time jobs as a cleaner and helped out in her parents' shop. Entwistle then played Madonna freak Maxine Graham in Like A Virgin and was spotted by Granada Television casting director Judy Hayfield. She was offered the role of machinist Janice Lee in Coronation Street and made her debut on 6 January 1997. She also starred in an episode of The Bill in 1997. The following month, Entwistle was told that she would become the mother of the street's new family the Battersbys and was introduced to fellow actors Bruce Jones, Jane Danson and Georgia Taylor. Soon Entwistle found herself swamped by fans where ever she went and found it hard to accept. She once even locked herself inside a lavatory in a restaurant because she was so stressed from fans approaching her. In 1998 Entwistle had a catfight in a Manchester hotel off-screen with Tina Hobley who played Samantha Failsworth in Coronation Street after Hobley made comments about her lipstick.