 MIND the steps," says the lady, whose quizzical humour is set deep in her cocoa eyes, "and shut the door behind you, so that the daddy-longlegs can't get in." With that, she walks into her lovely garden and smiles in that way, which is as familiar to a certain generation as the ginger cat slinking down the wall of a backyard in old Coronation Street, while the brassy melody of Eric Spear's theme tune blew reassurance into millions of homes. This is Jean Alexander or Hilda Ogden or even Auntie Wainwright, still one of the most famous faces in Britain, nearing her 80th birthday, to be celebrated next month on a date that she won't disclose to stop people making too much fuss. "I like getting fan mail, it's very nice, very pleasant, but it's an awful lot of paperwork to get through every week," she says. "I don't want any more paperwork, thank you." And if you think buttons are bright, none shines more than this actress, whose nimble movements, keen mind and crystal memories mock the years. Her hair is coiffured to perfection, fluffed up at the places once filled by the curlers, with which poor Hilda faced the trials, disappointments and hopes of each new day, a fag dangling from her lips. Although its russet, slightly autumnal tone has lost the red of earlier times, Jean does not use hair dye. "If it goes white, it goes white," she says. But those with keen nostrils will note the hint of cigarette smoke in the lounge of her semi-detached house on a secluded road in Southport. Yes, Jean still smokes because she likes the taste. "But I have never inhaled," she says. One remembers former President Bill Clinton saying something similar when accused of smoking marijuana as a student. But Jean's answer is more compelling and she immediately demonstrates how Hilda held her cigarette between finger and thumb in the quaint belief that this, coupled with her penchant for port and lemon, would make her seem "posh", pronounced, of course, with a soft O. | 
