Rita Littlewood was a nightclub singer during the seventies and eighties and was close friends with Bet Gilroy.
She had fallen pregnant at the age of 16 and was left sterile after her mother forced her into a backstreet abortion. Rita came to Weatherfiled as an exotic dancer and was friendly with Dennis Tanner. She became acquainted with schoolteacher Ken Barlow through Harry Bates, who she lived with for 4 years and minded his kids aswell, and for a while thought about having an affair. Ken dropped her after his headmaster disapproved. She got involved with Len Fairclough in the hope that she use his links with the council to rehouse her family. Harry didn't like that and threw Rita out.
Len installed Rita as manageress of his new newsagents. Len enjoyed toying with both Bet and Rita but Rita wasn't shy about telling him she was seeing estate agents Jimmy Graham. Her fun with Jimmy ended when she found out he had a wife and children.
Len and Rita finally married in April 1977. She was delighted that she had achieved something that Bet and Elsie Tanner had failed to do and that was marrying Len! Rita moved in with Len to No. 9 Coronation Street. Rita tried to get Len to make improvements to their house but she moved out when Len went to mend Elsie's tap despite Rita having asked him to fix theirs for weeks. Len soon began to miss Rita and started to search for her. He found him in Blackpool. Rita agreed to return with him as long as he improved the house which he did.
The Faircloughs soon began to find out about children when they fostered young 16 year old Sharon Gaskell. A couple of months later Rita was left all on her own when Sharon left for a job in Sheffield and Len was killed in a horrific car crash while driving home from his mistress. Rita was left a wealthy widow but missed Len a great deal.
She turned down Alf Roberts proposal as she wasn't ready for commitment and moved on to her next foster child 14 year old Jenny Bradley. Rita soon fell for Jenny's father Alan Bradley after he moved to Weatherfield to be closer to Jenny and to Rita. She refused Alan's proposals of marriage but did invite Alan to move in with her and Jenny. Alan grew tired of Rita's lack of commitment and started an affair. Rita begged for a second chance and was thrilled when Alan returned. Little did she know that Alan was only back for her money. He assumed Len's name, stole the deeds to the house and remortgaged it to set up his own business. Rita soon found out from Alan's receptionist that he had tried to rape her and had been receiving letters which were addressed to Len Fairclough.
Rita confronted Alan but was not prepared for Alan's attempts to suffocate her with a cushion Jenny's arrival saved her from an untimely death. While she recovered in hospital Alan was arrested. Alan was soon released and took a job as a builder across the street. He broke into Rita's house and made a point of breaking in and moving her furniture to make her know he had been there. Rita hit the bottle as the police and Jenny found her story hard to believe. Jenny moved out. Rita had a nervous breakdown and thought she was Rita Littlewood rather than RIta Fairclough. She took a singing job in Blackpool where Alan tracked her down. Alan chased her across a busy road, was hit by a tram and killed instantly.
Jenny and Rita were reconciled for a while until Jenny made it clear that she was only interested in Rita's money. Rita saw her off by writing a cheque for £1,000. Rita moved the Kabin from Rosamund Street onto Coronation Street and moved into the flat above it. She became involved with Ted Sullivan in 1992 and married him on the 6th of June even though he was dying with a brain tumour. Three months later he died in Rita's arms.
Since the departure of her close friend Mavis in 1997 Rita was shocked by the return of Sharon Gaskell in 1999. She was engaged to Ian Bentley and at first Rita had no objections. However that all changed when Betty Williams told her that Ian was seeing Natalie on the eve of his wedding to Sharon. An furious Rita stormed into the Rovers and had harsh words for Natalie who she hadn't forgiven for breaking up Sally and Kevin Webster's marraige. Natalie claimed that she had not known about Ian and Sharon and together Natalie and Rita tried to get Ian to call off the wedding. Rita was forced to tell Sharon who pretended not to believe her. At the altar Sharon lashed out at Ian in a fit of rage and disgust.
Rita suffered temporary memory loss as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning in 1998. She turned down Alec's proposal to buy the Rovers Return.
Rita was instrumental in helping Sharon get over the loss of Ian and made her the owner of the Kabin as a sign of her love for Sharon. In October of the same year Ian returned to Weatherfield set on winning Sharon back. Rita warned Ian to stay away from Sharon but as the weeks went by Sharon found herself attracted to Ian again. They hid their relationship from Rita until Ian planned to sell the Kabin. Sharon couldn't bring herself to do it and gave the Kabin back to Rita. She left for a new life with Ian and as a result left Rita heartbroken. Rita is seen as the Duchess of the Street and now runs the Kabin with the assistance of Norris Cole. She enjoyed a singing session at the Millenium street party which brought back alot of memories.
David's personal opinion of Rita: Rita is one of the my favourite characters. She is so energetic and bubbly. She is very generous and kind, especially to Sally and Sharon. Sharon's behaviour to Rita was disgraceful. Many people think that Rita was foolish to sign over the shop to Sharon but Rita wasn't to know how wicked Sharon would turn out to be. I enjoyed Rita's clash with Natalie over Ian. Those scenes rank as some my favourite. Her best storyline revolved around Alan Bradley. There was plenty of drama and the climax was shocking with Alan being crushed by a tram. Barbara Knox is a wonderful actress because she is able to talk strongly and we feel for her character. I hope she gets more great storylines in the future because she is a fantastic character
If you have any opinions of the character of Rita Sullivan e-mail me: