Susan Cunningham was a character in Coronation Street who was first seen in Episode 1 (9 Dec 1960). She was a university girlfriend of Ken Barlow. In 2010 he discovered she had passed away a few years prior. Susan was played by Patricia Shakesby.
Biography[]
Backstory[]
Susan Cunningham was born in about 1939 in Weatherfield. She had a sister. She attended university where she met 21 year old Ken Barlow.
1960-1961[]
Susan with Ken in 1960.
Susan was meant to meet Ken at the Imperial Hotel on the evening of 9th December 1960, although he didn't show up due to his father Frank forbidding him from going, due to Ken's mother Ida being employed there. Susan turned up at Ken's home at Number 3 Coronation Street although Ken wasn't home, so waited patiently in the living room whilst Frank and Ken's younger brother David were fixing a bike. Susan began to help them mend the bike, and Ken arrived, embarrassed that Susan had seen his home roots.
Although Susan was from a nicer area at the other side of Weatherfield, she didn't have any snobbish traits, and even revealed to Ken that her grandfather lived in a similar terraced house to his. She reprimended Ken for clearly being embarrassed by his roots and not wanting her to know where he comes from.
In January 1961, Susan, Ken and other student friends took part in the "Ban the Bomb" march. Later that month Susan and Ken parted ways, and he later moved onto library teacher Marian Lund.
After 1961 and death[]
Unknown to Ken, Susan fell pregnant and she attempted to contact him by sending a letter to his house, but it ended up being lost behind the skirting board. Later that year she gave birth to his son Lawrence. Lawrence would later go onto having his own children James and Chloe. Susan could have just visited Ken and told him about their illegitimate son born in August 1961. Perhaps she awaited a reply from Ken but never got one, and later discovered that Ken was dating Valerie Tatlock, and decided to not let Ken know about their son.
Susan probably left father's name blank on Lawrence's 1961 birth certificate, and claimed to her family and friends that the father was a random bloke, to protect Ken's identity. She likely did not marry in the years after Lawrence was born, as Lawrence retained the surname Cunningham.
In August 2010 the current occupants at No.3 Emily Bishop and Norris Cole discovered the letter and gave it to Ken (who was residing now next-door at Number 1 Coronation Street and he discovered Susan was pregnant to his child. He tracked down her sister and found out Susan passed away some years prior, but had left him a grown son and two grandchildren.
Trivia[]
- Susan Cunningham appeared briefly from December 1960 to January 1961. 49 years later in September 2010, her son Lawrence Cunningham said he was born in August 1961, meaning he was conceived around November 1960, thus indicating Susan was a few weeks pregnant by the time of her first appearance.
- As Susan only lived at the other side of Weatherfield (as established in the first episode) it isn't known why she couldn't just drive over and see Ken and tell him about her pregnancy, as she easily met up with him on several occasions when he appeared. It's possible she assumed Ken wasn't interested due to not hearing back, so decided to drop the matter. As it was highly taboo back in the 1960s to have an illegitimate child, it is likely Susan had another boyfriend and claimed they were Lawrence's father. However, it appears Susan never married, as her son Lawrence had Cunningham as his surname, so Susan probably just claimed to her family and friends that Lawrence's father was a random bloke, and never disclosed his identity, so in this case Ken could remain respectable.
Memorable info[]
Born: About 1939
Died: Before 2010 (Inbetween 2000 and 2010)
Full Name: Susan Cunningham
Parents: Mr. Cunningham and Mrs. Cunningham
Siblings: 1 sister
Spouse: Unknown
Children: Lawrence Cunningham (1961)
Grandparents: Grandfather
Grandchildren: James Cunningham, Chloe Cunningham