CORONATION Street's Hilda Ogden has paid an emotional tribute to a legendary York director who set her on the path to stardom, who has died aged 82.

Friends and former colleagues of theatre stalwart Donald Bodley described him as an "exciting" and "inspirational" man.

Mr Bodley became the director of York Theatre Royal in 1958, after eight years as director of productions at Southport Repertory Company, and was credited with bringing a series of big names to the city.

Jean Alexander, who went on to play Hilda Ogden in Coronation Street, followed Mr Bodley to York from her native town of Southport.

She said today: "He was a brilliant, brilliant theatre director and I worked for him for about nine years in a row.

"What I learned from Donald was wonderful.

"I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now if it wasn't for his training.

"He was just wonderful. He was a tyrant in the theatre and certainly kept you on your toes, but as a person he was always full of fun and a great joker."

She said she always visited him when she came to York, but hadn't seen him since February, when he was "very frail".

She added: "Anyone who has worked with Donald will never forget him. I have nothing but the highest praise for him and I'm thankful to have been able to work with him."

Mr Bodley acted and studied production technique with the Young Vic, an offshoot of the Old Vic, after serving in the Royal Navy during the Second World War.

He then went into repertory at Colchester, and moved to Southport as an actor, followed by seasons at Preston and Swansea.

While in Wales, he met and married actress Elizabeth McKenzie, and in 1956 they had a daughter, Kate Sarah. Mr Bodley left York to work in London in 1971, but continued living in Queen Anne's Road, York. His wife died in 1982.

He had two other children, Gemma and Patrick.

Mr Bodley's successor at York Theatre Royal, Richard Digby Day, said: "I was able to build on the very firm foundation that Donald had created in his time as artistic director.

"The Sixties and Seventies were a time of great change and development in theatre.

"We look back on it now as a sort of golden age when the sheer range and variety of plays that York, together with other companies throughout Great Britain, was able to offer was astonishing. It was also of course, particularly in Donald's regime, a time when a permanent company of considerable quality could be maintained.

"Theatre is a transitory occupation. I am happy to think that Donald has a permanent memorial in the splendid extension made to the Theatre Royal in his time there - one of York's few great contributions to late 20th century architecture."

His funeral will take place at York Crematorium, at 11am, tomorrow.