Soap star who was Deirdre’s first husband Ray dies at 77
CORONATION Street legend Neville Buswell, who played womaniser Ray Langton, has died, aged 77.
At the height of his fame, Buswell was one of television’s highest-earning stars.
But after his bid for Hollywood stardom failed, he ended up working part-time in a newsagent for £4 an hour.
Buswell joined Corrie in 1966 and Langton became Deirdre Barlow’s first husband.
He was written out of the soap in 1978 when he chose not to renew his contract.
The actor hoped to find Hollywood stardom, but although he was a huge star in Britain, no one in America had ever heard of Buswell or hardedged ex-Borstal boy Langton.
He turned his back on acting and became a Las Vegas casino croupier where just once in 13 years he was recognised from his Coronation Street days.
He later left the casino to work in his friend’s newsagents. “I was getting paid only about £4 an hour, but I loved it,” he once said.
Buswell once said: “I enjoy having a nice, ordinary job. I never really had the urge to act again.”
Of his fame in Britain, he said: “It became difficult for my wife Sue and I to go out to restaurants and supermarkets and get any peace.
“It was a novelty at first, and I didn’t want to run away from people because they were fans of the show.That was part of it, but we really just wanted to try something new.”
Buswell was born in 1943 in Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, and started his acting career appearing in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.
After making a new life in the US, he made just one return to Coronation Street in 2005 for a six-week run. It was to be his last appearance as Langton died of lung cancer at the wedding of Ken Barlow and Deirdre, played by the late Anne Kirkbride who died of breast cancer in 2015. Buswell died in Las Vegas on Christmas
Day. A spokesperson for the ITV soap said: “His portrayal of Ray Langton made him a part of Coronation Street history.”