Ken Barlow

Kenneth Barlow (born 9 October, 1939)is a character in the long-running British soap opera Coronation Street. He is the only surviving character from the first episode of the series, back in 1960. He has been a teacher, a newspaper editor, a community activist and, most bizarrely of all, a trolley-pusher at a supermarket, before returning to teaching and writing. He has been married three times, widowed once, divorced twice, and had 27 girlfriends, including a character played by the now-famous actress Joanna Lumley. For some years, following the deaths of his parents, brother and first wife, he lived with his "Uncle Albert", another of the Street's original characters - Albert Tatlock was the uncle of Barlow's late wife Valerie.

Related Topics:
9 October - 1939 - Soap opera - Coronation Street - 1960 - Joanna Lumley - Albert Tatlock

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William Roache, the actor who has played Barlow throughout, took exception to the public image of the character as "boring", and attempted to redress the balance by persuading the scriptwriters to let him have an affair and leave his third wife, Deirdre (Anne Kirkbride). His first wife, Valerie Tatlock (Anne Reid), electrocuted herself with a faulty hairdryer in 1971. Ken divorced his second wife, Janet Reid (Judith Barker). She then committed suicide, in 1977, when Ken refused to take her back. Deirdre and Ken were married from 1981 to 1990; their divorce caused great personal turmoil for both of them (culminating in Ken's suicide attempt). The two were reconciled and re-married in 2005.

Related Topics:
William Roache - Deirdre - Anne Kirkbride - Valerie Tatlock - Anne Reid - 1971 - Judith Barker - 1977 - 1981 - 1990 - 2005

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Ken has had four children during the Street's existence: the twins (by Valerie), daughter (Susan) killed in a car accident, and son (Peter), who returned to live on the street (and was once played by the actor's own son) but has since departed again (after being unmasked as a bigamist). Another son, Daniel, lives with Ken's ex-girlfriend. Finally, there is Ken's adopted daughter, Tracy Barlow (again a street returner, played by the fourth actress to have the role!), Deirdre's daughter by her ex-husband, Ray Langton.

Related Topics:
Tracy Barlow - Ray Langton

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One of the most-watched episodes of the soap was when Ken discovered Deirdre was having an affair with his great rival, Mike Baldwin, and was planning to leave him. William Roache has described how the director allowed him to improvise his reaction to seeing Mike at the front door after Deirdre had confessed to the affair. The question of whether or not Deirdre would leave Ken was a hot news topic at the time.

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Ken and Deirdre have been reconciled on several occasions and are currently married. After Deirdre's romance with Baldwin (who had been her boyfriend before she married Ken), Barlow himself formed a relationship with council secretary Wendy Crozier, and left Deirdre to live with her. While they were apart, he had relationships with numerous women, including the headmistress of the school where he worked, Baldwin's ex-girlfriend Alma (who later married Mike), and with Maggie Redman, the mother of Baldwin's son Mark. The latter two affairs both resulted in further antagonism between Ken and Mike.

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Despite this record, Ken's on-screen activities have done little to alter the popular image of the character. In the UK, "Ken Barlow" remains a synonym for a boring man.

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