Coronation Street’s Norris Cole was played by Malcolm Hebden, who left the ITV soap over five years ago
Coronation Street’s Malcolm Hebden is a soap legend thanks to his role as Norris Cole – but what has the actor been up to since leaving the show?
The actor made his first appearance on the ITV soap playing Norris way back in 1994. Best known for being the street’s very own busybody, Norris appeared in more than 1,600 episodes.
However, after 27 years on the cobbles, Malcom announced he was retiring from acting in January 2021. He called it quits on acting after suffering a heart attack in 2017.
As viewers will remember, Norris was tragically killed off the soap after the character had been moved to a retirement home. But over five years since his last soap appearance, what has Norris actor Malcom been up to?
Malcom as Norris on Coronation Street
Malcolm Hebden is best known for his role as Norris Cole in Coronation Street. However, he previously played a character called Carlos, the Spanish boyfriend of Mavis Riley, played by Thelma Barlow. He starred in the show between 1974 and 1975.
However, nearly 20 years later, in 1994, he started portraying Norris. The actor, who won Funniest Character at the Inside Soap Awards in both 2001 and 2002, left the soap three years later, but he returned again in 1999.
Some of his biggest storylines involved his relationship with Mary Taylor (Patti Clare) and his feud with Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire) as well as his ongoing nosiness in Weatherfield.
Malcolm had a near-fatal heart attack in late 2017, which led him to step back from Coronation Street. In March 2019 he made a brief return to the soap but final appearance occurred in June 2020, with Norris dying from a stroke off-screen. His character’s death was announced the following year.
Malcom’s near-fatal heart attack
In 2017, Malcom suffered a near-fatal heart attack and later spoke about the ordeal to the Blackpool Gazette.
He told the paper that he visited his GP with a chest infection and after listening to his heart he was called later that same day to be told an emergency ambulance was on its way to collect him and take him to the Royal Blackburn Hospital, the nearest hospital to his home in the Ribble Valley.
Malcom shared: “I was informed by my doctor I had had at least one heart attack. I was sent to hospital, by emergency ambulance to Blackburn hospital and was there one night.”
“While there I collapsed and was brought here to Blackpool Victoria – where I was operated on, in a procedure which was described by my surgeon Mr Zacharias as ‘ground-breaking’. The heart attack tore a hole in my heart, they operated and took a chance.”
The actor’s heart was “wallpapered” to repair the damage done by the silent heart attack, using tissue from a cow in the procedure.
He was moved back to the Royal Blackburn Hospital still in a coma, and came round “some time in January,” before being discharged in late February, after almost three months in hospital.
Malcom’s return to cobbles
In January 2021, Malcom – who was 81 years old at the time – announced that he would be retiring from acting. He later told The Sun: “I absolutely adored playing Norris and I was pleased to be able to return briefly after my operation. It took a great deal of courage to make the decision to retire.”
Fast forward to October 2023, and he made an appearance the documentary special Barbara Knox at 90 which celebrated Barbara Knox’s 90th birthday.
And more recently, he Malcom headed back to the cobbles set to support his former co-star Sam Aston, who plays Chesney Brown, while he was competing on Dancing on Ice in 2025.
They reminisced about their early days working on the soap together, with both revealing that they “remember it well”. Sam recalled and told Malcom: “One thing I remember that you’d said was know your lines and don’t be late… And they’re two things that I’ve tried to carry on.”
Malcolm also affectionately referred to Sam as his surrogate grandson, as Sam shared that he has “wonderful memories” of growing up on the soap.
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