Coronation Street star Jean Alexander has passed away at the age of 90.
The legendary soap actress, who played character Hilda Ogden, died in hospital just three days after her 90th birthday on Friday.
She was taken to hospital on her birthday, on Tuesday, after feeling unwell, and her niece Sonia Hearld was given the bad news of her aunt’s death just days later.
"It is such a shock," she said, according to the Daily Mirror.
"She had been feeling a little poorly and had gone in for some tests."
Jean was seen by doctors just a few days before her birthday on Tuesday as her friends and family planned to celebrate the milestone and after a couple of days was allowed to return to the care home where she had been living since 2014 after suffering a stroke.
"But on Tuesday she was still not good and it was decided she might be better going back into hospital," Sonia added.
Sonia and her sister Valerie Thewlis broke the devastating news to their 91-year-old father, Jean’s brother, Kenneth Hodgkinson.
They are the only three relatives of the television star.
Sonia continued: "I saw her last week and she seemed weak and a bit tired but this was still a shock.
"The hospital phoned me and said they were very sorry but Jean had passed away."
Jean never married but instead worked hard on her career before falling ill with her slight stroke in 2014.
And while she admitted her age was catching up with her, she was still in good spirits as she recovered from the incident.
She thanked fans for their support at the time, telling the Daily Mirror: "Don’t worry, I am fit and well, but thank you so much for your goodwill messages.
"I suffered a very slight stroke but I hope to be back in the garden in no time at all."
She joked: "I’ve spent my career playing old ladies - now I am one."
Her niece Sonia said that her memories of Jean were of an "amazing glamorous" lady.
"To us she was an actress and she was glamorous," she said.
"But she was great fun. She had a wicked sense of humour."
The actress played Coronation Street’s legendary Hilda Ogden, a cleaner in the ITV soap, for 23 years from 1964 to 1987.
She received a BAFTA TV Award nomination for Best Actress in 1987 and eventually retired from acting in 2012.
Her first television role was in police series Z-Cars and she first appeared on Coronation Street in 1962 as landlady Mrs Webb.
But she returned to the series as Hilda on 8 July 1964 before leaving on 25 December 1987.
"I don’t know why she (Hilda) was so popular," she previously said.
"I think probably because she was a downtrodden, poor little sole. I think people were sorry for Hilda.
"She went plodding away, doing her best all the time, always aspiring to better things.
"I liked playing her. She was a gift to play but I wouldn’t want her living next door to me."
Tributes have poured in for Jean after her death.
One of the first to pay his respects was Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan.
He tweeted: "RIP Jean Alexander, aka Hilda Ogden from Coronation Street. One of the greatest soap stars in British TV history."
And both past and present stars of Coronation Street took to their social media pages to post tribute messages.
Jennie McAlpine, best known for her portrayal of character Fiz Brown on the soap, wrote: "Sorry to hear about Jean Alexander. I would have loved to work with her. Thankful to have met her though. Rest in peace Jean x."
And Jack P. Shepherd, who plays David Platt, simply wrote: "R.I.P Jean Alexander."
Kevin Kennedy, who previously played Curly Watts, posted: "Sad to hear about the passing of Jean Alexander lovely lady and a fine actress."