The actress, who played Blanche Hunt on the long-running soap Coronation Street, passed away on Wednesday (02Dec09) after failing to recover from an operation in October (09) in Hope Hospital in Manchester, England.
Actor William Roache, who plays her on-screen son-in-law Ken Barlow, has paid tribute to the star.
He says, “Maggie was a big part of the Barlow family and a brilliant actress. She was a tower of strength, physically frail but mentally strong as an ox and sharp as someone half her age.
“She had an amazing dry wit and was as funny if not funnier than Blanche.”
Jones began her career on the stage, appearing in stage shows Pride and Prejudice and The Woman on London’s West End, before she made her TV debut as a policewoman on Coronation Street in 1961.
She first appeared as Blanche Hunte on the soap from 1974 to 1976, before she rejoined the cast in 1999.
The role won her two British Soap Awards for Best Comedy Performance in 2005 and 2008.
In 1971, Jones married John Oliver Stansfield, who died in 1999.
