London, Oct 15 (IANS): "Coronation Street" legend Jean Alexander has died in hospital just three days after her 90th birthday.

The woman, known to millions as Hilda Ogden, passed away on Friday, reports mirror.co.uk.

She had been taken into hospital on Tuesday, her birthday, after feeling unwell.

Her niece, Sonia Hearld, 64, while opening up about how she received a phone call from the hospital breaking the bad news, said: "It is such a shock."

She told how Alexander had been been taken poorly just a few days earlier as family and friends planned to gather to celebrate her 90th last weekend.

"She had been feeling a little poorly and had gone in for some tests," she said.

After a couple of days in hospital she was allowed back the care home, where she had been looked after since suffering a slight stroke in 2014.

Born Jean Hodgkinson, she received a 1987 BAFTA TV Award nomination for Best Actress and retired from acting in 2012. Her television debut was in the television police series "Z-Cars" and first appeared in "Coronation Street" in 1962 as landlady Mrs Webb. She started playing Hilda on July 8, 1964, finally retiring on December 25, 1987.