Can this really be Corrie Ken’s 90th birthday?
HE’S well into his seventh decade of playing the bookish lothario who woos women on the Corrie cobbles.
And Bill Roache proved he’s still got it as he showed off his youthful appearance in a snap to mark his 90th birthday today.
Roache, who has played Ken Barlow in the ITV soap since its first episode on December 9, 1960, was photographed by his son Will at the family home in Cheshire to celebrate the milestone.
One bespectacled, smiling shot sees him looking years younger than his age, in a white shirt and navy jumper and boasting a full head of hair. He said: ‘Will studied photography when he was younger so he has a lot of technical knowledge.’
The snaps were taken for the re-release of an updated version of his book Life And Soul – his tips for a happy, healthy life.
Roache is the only remaining character who also featured in the first ever episode of the Manchester soap. His character went on to marry four times to three women, Valerie Tatlock in 1962, Janet Reid in 197 , and Deirdre Hunt in 1981 and again in 2005. But he was also rejected in 197 by Elaine Perkins, played by Joanna Lumley for eight episodes. In real life, Roache was married to actress Anna Cropper, the mother of his son Linus and late daughter Vanya, and admitted to being unfaithful.
In 1978 he married Sara McEwan Mottram with whom he had son Will and daughter Verity. A second daughter, Edwina, died at 18 months old. Roache dated weather presenter Emma Jesson from 2010 to 2012.
Last week ITV aired Happy Birthday Bill, an hour-long show celebrating his life. And in December last year it was announced that the actor had been made an OBE for his services to drama and charity.