William Patrick "Bill" Roache MBE (born 25 April 1932) is an English
actor. He is best known for playing Ken Barlow on the long-running
soap opera Coronation Street since it began airing on 9 December 1960.
He is listed in the Guinness World Records as the longest-serving male
television star in a continuous role.William Patrick Roache was born
in the Basford suburb of Nottingham on 25 April 1932, the son of
Hester Vera (née Waddicor) and Joseph William Vincent Roache. He grew
up in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, where he attended a Steiner school set up
by his grandfather in the family's garden. His grandfather was a
Freemason who was interested in such things as theosophy, esotericism,
hypnotism, spiritualism, and homoeopathy, as well as the teachings of
philosopher and educationalist Rudolf Steiner. Roache was later
educated at Rydal School. He joined the British Army and was
commissioned into the Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1953. A year later, he
was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. He left in 1956 with the rank
of captain. Due to an exploding mortar round during his military
service, he suffers from tinnitus.After leaving the military, Roache
turned to acting. He appeared in various stage productions, then had
uncredited roles in several films, and later small parts in television
serials including Knight Errant Limited and Skyport. He played the
minor role of a space centre operator in the Norman Wisdom film The
Bulldog Breed. Shortly before joining Coronation Street at the
beginning of the programme in 1960, Roache played the leading role in
a Granada Television play called Marking Time, transmitted on ITV in
1961. In an interview with the Liverpool Post in 2007, Roache recalled
"I played a young soldier in Germany who fraternised with a German
girl, although I can't remember now how it ended. It was highly
prestigious, though, and I have tried to hunt it down but there is no
trace of it." He added: "But Tony Warren, who created Coronation
Street, saw it and thought I was right for Ken Barlow".
actor. He is best known for playing Ken Barlow on the long-running
soap opera Coronation Street since it began airing on 9 December 1960.
He is listed in the Guinness World Records as the longest-serving male
television star in a continuous role.William Patrick Roache was born
in the Basford suburb of Nottingham on 25 April 1932, the son of
Hester Vera (née Waddicor) and Joseph William Vincent Roache. He grew
up in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, where he attended a Steiner school set up
by his grandfather in the family's garden. His grandfather was a
Freemason who was interested in such things as theosophy, esotericism,
hypnotism, spiritualism, and homoeopathy, as well as the teachings of
philosopher and educationalist Rudolf Steiner. Roache was later
educated at Rydal School. He joined the British Army and was
commissioned into the Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1953. A year later, he
was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. He left in 1956 with the rank
of captain. Due to an exploding mortar round during his military
service, he suffers from tinnitus.After leaving the military, Roache
turned to acting. He appeared in various stage productions, then had
uncredited roles in several films, and later small parts in television
serials including Knight Errant Limited and Skyport. He played the
minor role of a space centre operator in the Norman Wisdom film The
Bulldog Breed. Shortly before joining Coronation Street at the
beginning of the programme in 1960, Roache played the leading role in
a Granada Television play called Marking Time, transmitted on ITV in
1961. In an interview with the Liverpool Post in 2007, Roache recalled
"I played a young soldier in Germany who fraternised with a German
girl, although I can't remember now how it ended. It was highly
prestigious, though, and I have tried to hunt it down but there is no
trace of it." He added: "But Tony Warren, who created Coronation
Street, saw it and thought I was right for Ken Barlow".
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