show. In 2005 and 2008, Jones won the British Soap Award for Best Comedy Performance. Jones stated that she didn't think of her character as funny and that she couldn't play her properly if she did. Personal life, illness and death Jones was a Roman Catholic. She married lawyer John Oliver Stansfield in 1971; he died in January 1999 aged 72, in Westminster, London. On 18 April 2008, Jones fell, injuring her knee and shoulder at the Manchester hotel in which she stayed while filming Coronation Street. She took two weeks off work from Coronation Street to recover from the accident. She was written out of the series again when she fell ill in October 2009. In October 2009, Jones was admitted to Salford Royal Hospital in Salford, Greater Manchester, for undisclosed major surgery; she was reported to be making a slow and steady recovery. However, her condition later deteriorated and she remained in the same hospital until she died peacefully in her sleep, aged 75, on 2 December 2009. Her final appearance as Blanche was broadcast posthumously on 11 December 2009. Jones's funeral was held at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Clerkenwell, London on 15 December 2009. A memorial service for Jones took place at Salford Cathedral on 25 February 2010. Tributes came from Coronation Street co-stars William Roache, Anne Kirkbride, Sue Nicholls, Craig Gazey and Brooke Vincent. References External links Maggie Jones at the British Film Institute Maggie Jones (Aveleyman) Obituary, guardian.co.uk Obituary, timesonline.co.uk 1934 births 2009 deaths Actresses from Salford Alumni of RADA English soap opera actresses English stage actresses English television actresses English Roman Catholics 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses