Judith Barker

Judith Barker
Born	(1943-06-22) 22 June 1943 Oldham, Lancashire, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1964–present

Judith Barker (born 22 June 1943) is an English actress, best known for her role in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street as the upwardly mobile homewrecker Janet Reid/Barlow, which she played between 1969 and 1977. She has been married to Kenneth Alan Taylor since 1964.

Since her departure from Coronation Street, Barker has mostly been a character actress in television dramas, such as the 1984 Channel 4 series, Scully, in which she played teacher Mrs. Heath, an exception being her role in Brookside, playing the role of Audrey Manners, during 1995. She appeared in the first series of Waterloo Road, playing secretary Estelle Cooper. She also had a small role in the film Miss Potter. It was reported that she declined the premiere for the movie with Renee Zellweger, to teach drama at her local school, Jude's Drama in Oldham.

Barker reappeared in Waterloo Road, in series 10, playing a different character, Grace.

In 2012, she appeared in the second series of Scott & Bailey, as Dorothy Parsons, the mother of Lesley Sharp's character, DC Janet Scott. From 2019 to 2020, she played the recurring role of Agatha Finn in ITV's Emmerdale. Barker also runs her own drama classes at Springhead Congregational Church, along with choreographer Adele Parry and musical director Dave Bintley.

Other websites

• Judith Barker on IMDb