Lynne Perrie (born Jean Dudley; 7 April 1931 – 24 March 2006) was an English actress, singer and television personality, best known as Mrs Casper in Ken Loach's 1969 film Kes, Mrs Petty in the television series Queenie's Castle, and as Ivy Tilsley in Coronation Street. Early life Perrie was the second of four children; a brother, Victor, died before she was born. Her younger brother was actor Duggie Brown. Perrie attended Rotherham Girls High School after passing her 11-plus. After leaving school, she trained as a dispenser at Boots. She later abandoned her studies to concentrate on her singing career. By the age of 14, she had started singing in working men's clubs under the stage name of 'Dizzy' with a local dance band for six shillings (6/-) (30p) on a Saturday night. Singing career In 1956, Perrie entered showbusiness professionally as a singer and comedian, after performing at the Rotherham Trade Centre and receiving a further twenty-seven bookings. She decided to give up her factory work, and go into cabaret full-time. Throughout the 1960s Perrie was often billed and referred to as 'Little Miss Dynamite', due to her vibrant personality and performance. In her capacity as a singer, she appeared throughout the British Isles working in variety, clubs, and concerts, including eight at London's Royal Albert Hall. In 1964, she supported the Beatles for fifteen concerts, during a six-week tour at coastal resorts on Sundays. Other stars she shared the same bill as included the Rolling Stones, Sacha Distel, Rod Stewart and the Faces, Engelbert Humperdinck and Shirley Bassey. As her popularity in England grew, Perrie began performing in other countries. She toured South Africa seven times and also visited Germany, Paris, Australia and the United States. In her book, Secrets of the Street, Perrie recalled how she had made headlines during her first tour of South Africa. She wrote, "[I performed in] a concert down the impressive Cango Caves. A recording of the concert was released over there. I made history as the first female to perform so far underground." From 1963 to 1968, Perrie made several television appearances as a guest artiste, notably on the popular ITV Stars and Garters variety show, with Kathy Kirby, and The Good Old Days, the BBC's long-running light entertainment programme. Despite later concentrating primarily on acting, Perrie still continued to perform her variety act in the clubs when she joined