William Roache

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William Roache, MBE
William Roache Cropped.jpg
Born William Patrick Roache
(1932-04-25) 25 April 1932 (age 81)
Basford, Nottinghamshire, England
Occupation Actor
Years active 1958–present
Employer ITV plc (formerly Granada plc)
Spouse(s) Anna Cropper (m. 1961–1974)(deceased) (divorced)
Sarah Mottram (m. 1978–2009)
(her death)
Partner(s) Emma Jesson (2010–2012)[1]
Children Linus Roache (born 1964)
Vanya Roache (born 1967)
Verity Roache (born 1981)
Edwina Roache (deceased)
James Roache (born 1985)
Awards British Soap Awards:
Special Achievement Award, 1999

William Patrick Roache[2], MBE (born 25 April 1932 in Basford, Nottinghamshire[3]),[4] often known as Bill Roache, is an English actor, best known for his role as Ken Barlow in the soap opera Coronation Street. He is the longest serving cast member and was the only remaining member of the original Coronation Street cast, having appeared since the first episode on 9 December 1960, until Philip Lowrie returned to his role as Dennis Tanner after a 43-year absence.[5]

Contents

Early life

Born in Basford, Nottinghamshire, Roche grew up in in nearby Ilkeston, Derbyshire where for a time he attended a Steiner school set up by his grandfather in the garden of the family home.[6] Roache's Freemason grandfather was interested in such things as hypnotism, theosophy, spiritualism, homoeopathy and esotericism, and the teachings of philosopher and educationalist Rudolf Steiner.[7] Roache was later educated at the independent Rydal School in Colwyn Bay, North Wales.[citation needed]

In 1953, he was commissioned into the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1954 and left the army three years later. Because of a mortar round explosion that he witnessed while on national service with the British Army during this time, Roache suffers from tinnitus.[8]

Career

Roache is now the world's longest-serving television actor in a continuous role (as of September 2010 with the cancellation of the American soap opera As the World Turns, where Don Hastings played Bob Hughes since October 1960 without a break).[9] If he remains in the role beyond December 2014, he will surpass American actress Helen Wagner's record (also for As the World Turns) for the actor portraying the same character over the longest time span (which will be shared with Philip Lowrie if Lowrie remains in the cast). On 16 October 1985, just weeks before the 25th anniversary of his debut on Coronation Street, he appeared as the special guest on the TV show This Is Your Life. With the departure of Pat Phoenix the previous year, he was the show's last remaining original cast member by this stage.[10]

Roache's autobiography is called Soul on the Street. It focuses on many of his life experiences and contains a significant amount of philosophical content in which Roache affirms his belief in the afterlife. In 1999, Roache was the recipient of the British Soap Awards Lifetime Achievement Award for his role as Ken Barlow. In 2003, Roache appeared on Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes as Perry Como singing the song "Catch a Falling Star". In September and October 2005, he appeared as a celebrity contestant in Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon. He was the winner of The Golden Shot remake, progressing through to Bullseye where he was beaten by television presenter Vernon Kay. He later entered All Star Family Fortunes, hosted by Kay, but lost by two points to his competitors.

In October 2008, Roache revealed on BBC Breakfast that he had a two-year feud with fellow Coronation Street actress Pat Phoenix, during which they didn't speak to each other. This was over her changing of a scene involving the two of them. However, they did reconcile and became good friends. In 2010, he made a guest appearance on Harry Hill's comedy album Funny Times on the song "Ken!" which is about his Coronation Street character. On 13 April 2012, Piers Morgan interviewed Roache for his ITV series Piers Morgan's Life Stories. On 26 September 2012, Roache was featured on the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are? researching his family history. On 7 March 2013, he appeared on the UK panel show Celebrity Juice.

Personal life

Roache lives in Wilmslow, Cheshire.[11] His eldest son, by his first wife Anna Cropper (1938–2007), is the actor Linus Roache (born 1964) and a daughter, Vanya (born 1967). The couple were married from 1961 until their divorce in 1974. Roache married Sara, his second wife, in 1978; she died suddenly on 7 February 2009 at their home at the age of 58.[12][13] With Sara, he had a daughter named Verity (born 1981) and a younger son, the actor James Roache, christened William (born 1985). A second daughter, Edwina (born 1982), died aged 18 months from acute bronchial pneumonia in 1984.[14]

Roache is a strong supporter of the Conservative Party. He championed Sir John Major as Britain's greatest post-war prime minister for The Daily Politics. He also supported the now disgraced ex-Conservative MP Neil Hamilton in the 1997 election against Martin Bell. This is in contrast with his character Ken, who holds strong socialist views in the style of a Labour voter.[15] Roache became patron of the Ilkeston-based production company Sustained Magic Ltd in 2006.[16] The company was formed to help encourage the arts development within Ilkeston and the East Midlands to help develop new actors.

William Roache is a vegetarian because he "doesn't want animals being killed for him".[17] He wrote about his interest in astrology in his biography, which he learned by taking a correspondence course from the Faculty of Astrological Studies. He said he had impressed members of the Coronation Street cast by the accuracy with which he read their astrological charts for them.[18] Roache is a spiritualist and was photographed practising Druid rituals in the 1970s. He predicted that the world would go through a fundamental change on 12 December 2012 and "move to a higher vibration".[19]

On 1 May 2013, Roache was arrested over an allegation that he raped a 15 year old girl in 1967,[11][20] which he denies.[21] A representative of the Crown Prosecution Service in the North-West subsequently announced he was to be charged with two counts of rape.[22] There was a preliminary hearing in a Magistrate's court on Tuesday 14 May 2013.[23] and a Crown Court hearing will take place on 10 June 2013.[24]

Roache will not be appearing in any Coronation Street episodes while police investigate the charges.[25] Some members of the public prejudged the issue, while details were still Sub judice an image of Ken Barlow was removed from Madame Tussauds waxwork exhibition due to unacceptable behaviour by a few visitors and fears the waxwork might be damaged. [26] Roache was 35 years old at the time of the alleged offences.

Awards

Roache became a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2001. In March 2007, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Chester in recognition of his contribution to television.

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Published Tuesday, Sep 25 2012, 13:58 BST (2012-09-25). "Corrie's Bill Roache cools romance with weather girl Emma Jesson? - Coronation Street News - Soaps". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2013-05-01. 
  2. ^ http://www.lep.co.uk/news/local/coronation-street-actor-william-roache-has-appeared-at-preston-magistrates-court-1-5665349
  3. ^ http://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/all/results?recordCount=-1&forenames=William&_includeForenamesVariants=on&surname=Roache&_includeSurnameVariants=on&fromYear=1932&toYear=1932&region=&county=&mothersMaidenName=&_useMothersMaidenNameAsSurname=on&sortOrder=RK%3Atrue&_performExactSearch=on&event=B&recordType=ALL&route=
  4. ^ "William Roache". Corrie.net. Retrieved 2013-05-01. 
  5. ^ "Coronation Street". The Museum of Broadcast Communications. 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2008. [dead link]
  6. ^ Spiritual soap star William Roache to give talk in city Peterborough Today, 25 February 2006. Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
  7. ^ [1][dead link]
  8. ^ "Hearing Loss News and Reviews". Tinnitus sufferers 'feel let down' by NHS treatment. EveningTimes.co.uk. 13 September 2005. 
  9. ^ "Don Hastings CBS Biography". cbs.com. 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2007. 
  10. ^ "This Is Your Life (1969–1993) @ EOFFTV". Eofftv.com. Retrieved 26 January 2012. 
  11. ^ a b "Coronation Street actor Bill Roache arrested on suspicion of historic sex assault". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 1 May 2013. 
  12. ^ "Street actor Roache's wife dies". BBC News. 8 February 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2009. 
  13. ^ Petty, Moira (6 March 2009). "I'm so lost without Sara". London: Mail. Retrieved 7 March 2009. 
  14. ^ "William Roache". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2013-05-13. 
  15. ^ "Your Favourite Prime Minister". BBC News. 13 June 2007. 
  16. ^ "About Us". Sustained Magic. Archived from the original on 2009-02-13. Retrieved 19 March 2013. 
  17. ^ ITV 1, Loose Women, 1 Feb 2012, 12:30 (GMT), guest starring William Roache. Roache: "I'm vegetarian because I don't want animals being killed for me."
  18. ^ William Roach, Soul on the Street, pp.165–168. (Hay House, Inc, 2008) ISBN 9781848500150.
  19. ^ Jefferies, Mark (5 Sep 2012). ""Time is running out": Coronation Street Ken Barlow actor predicts world will "change dramatically" on December 12". Daily Mirror (Trinity Mirror). Retrieved 1 May 2013. 
  20. ^ "Coronation Street actor Bill Roache, who has spent 53 years playing Ken Barlow, arrested over allegation that he raped 15-year-old girl". Retrieved 1 May 2013. 
  21. ^ "BBC News - Coronation Street star William Roache denies rape". Bbc.co.uk. 2013-05-02. Retrieved 2013-05-13. 
  22. ^ "Coronation Street star William Roache to face rape charges". BBC News (BBC). 1 May 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013. 
  23. ^ Coronation Street's Bill Roache charged with rape of 15-year-old in 1967
  24. ^ Coronation Street's William Roache appears in court on rape charge
  25. ^ "Coro St star charged with 2 counts of rape". 3 News NZ. May 2, 2013. 
  26. ^ Blackpool Madame Tussauds removes Ken Barlow waxwork

External links

Authority control
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