Roy Senior Barraclough (12 July 1935 – 1 June 2017) was an English comic

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He was best known for his role as

Alec Gilroy Alec Gilroy is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street'', played by Roy Barraclough. The character made several appearances in the show as a small-time talent agent, the first in 1972, and later as a series re ...

, the devious, mournful landlord of the

Rovers Return The Rovers Return Inn is a fictional pub in the long-running British soap opera '' Coronation Street''. The Rovers Return occupies a corner of the fictional Coronation Street and Rosamund Street set location in the show. The pub was built by ...

in the long-running

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...

'' Coronation Street'', and for the double-act

Cissie and Ada Cissie and Ada, in full Cissie Braithwaite and Ada Shufflebotham (or Sidebottom),Ada's surname is recorded both as Sidebottom and as Shufflebotham in various sources. ''The Guardian'' records it as Shufflebotham in "The Guide: Hard as Males" (9 ...

with comedian

Les Dawson Leslie Dawson Jr. (2 February 1931 – 10 June 1993) was an English comedian, actor, writer, and presenter, who is best remembered for his deadpan style, curmudgeonly persona and jokes about his mother-in-law and wife. Early life Les Dawson w ...

Career

Roy Barraclough began his career as a draughtsman, taking time off to work as an entertainer in a holiday camp on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

. Combining his day job with local amateur theatre for several years, he was eventually offered a full-time acting contract by repertory theatre producer Nita Valerie with her company in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

. Barraclough regularly appeared on stage and at times played piano in the pit, including for comedienne

Hylda Baker Hylda Baker (4 February 1905 – 1 May 1986) was an English comedian, actress and music hall performer. Born and brought up in Farnworth, Lancashire, she is perhaps best remembered for her role as Nellie Pledge in the Granada ITV sitcom ...

. Barraclough later joined the repertory company at

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

(appearing alongside

Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and tw ...

) and then

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

in 1966, appearing alongside

Barbara Knox Barbara Knox, MBE (''née'' Brothwood, formerly Mullaney; born 30 September 1933) is an English actress, best known for her long-running portrayal of Rita Tanner in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. She first appeared as Rita Littlewo ...

and

Anne Kirkbride Anne Kirkbride (21 June 1954 – 19 January 2015) was an English actress, best known for her long-running role as Deirdre Barlow in the ITV soap ''Coronation Street'', which she played for 42 years from 1972 to 2014. For this role, she posthu ...

, who later both became colleagues on ''Coronation Street''. Whilst at Oldham he made his first TV appearances for Granada Television, including '' Coronation Street'' in 1964. In 1969, he was cast as Harry Everitt in

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

's first soap opera '' Castle Haven'' with

Kathy Staff Kathy Staff (born Minnie Higginbottom; 12 July 1928 – 13 December 2008) was an English actress known for her work on British television. She is best known for her portrayal of Nora Batty in ''Last of the Summer Wine'', the longest running sit ...

as his on-screen wife. Although the soap only lasted a year, Barraclough became a regular guest actor on Yorkshire TV shows. Throughout the 1970s, he formed a partnership with comedian

. They played two gossipy old ladies '...of a certain age...': Dawson playing Ada Shufflebotham, and Barraclough playing Cissie Braithwaite, the more 'refined' of the two. Barraclough also had a significant role playing Mr. Cobbledick in the children's TV show Pardon My Genie. He also made guest appearances in the sitcoms '' The Lovers'', ''

Rising Damp Structural dampness is the presence of unwanted moisture in the structure of a building, either the result of intrusion from outside or condensation from within the structure. A high proportion of damp problems in buildings are caused by ambient ...

'' and ''

George and Mildred ''George and Mildred'' is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television and first aired between 1976 and 1979. It is a spin-off from '' Man About the House'', and starred Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as constantly-sparring married couple ...

''. Barraclough made occasional appearances in ''Coronation Street'' in 1972 and 1975, playing the sleazy

, theatrical agent to night club singer

Rita Littlewood Rita Tanner (also Littlewood, Bates, Fairclough and Sullivan) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street''. Portrayed by veteran actress Barbara Knox, the character first appeared onscreen as "Rita Littlewood ...

. He returned permanently in 1986 and a marriage to Bet Lynch was included in his character's narrative. After several departures and comebacks, Barraclough finally left ''Coronation Street'' for good at the end of 1998. He was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in 1987 when he was surprised by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ ...

. Barraclough was later to appear in a sitcom, ''Mother's Ruin'' (1994), in which he played a bachelor dominated by his belligerent mother (

Dora Bryan Dora May Broadbent, (7 February 1923 – 23 July 2014), known as Dora Bryan, was a British actress of stage, film and television. He made a guest appearance in ''

Last of the Summer Wine ''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of '' Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes f ...

'' (2005), playing opposite both Bryan and his friend

, and appeared in a variety of TV shows including ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'' (1999), ''

Peak Practice ''Peak Practice'' is a British drama television series, series about a General Practice, GP surgery in Cardale—a small List of fictional towns in television, fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District—and the Physician, doctors who wor ...

'' (1994 and 2001) and '' Funland'' (2005). In 2005 he appeared in '' Heartbeat'' series. In 2009, he played the vicar in the BBC drama '' All the Small Things'' and from 2012 to 2013 he played Maurice in ''

Last Tango in Halifax ''Last Tango in Halifax'' is a British comedy-drama series that began broadcasting on BBC One on 20 November 2012 until its final episode which was broadcast on 15 March 2020. Screenwriter Sally Wainwright loosely adapted the story of her mothe ...

''. In 2016, he played Mr Grainger in a one-off revival episode of ''

Are You Being Served? ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British sitcom created and written by executive producer David Croft (Croft also directed some episodes) and Jeremy Lloyd, with contributions from Michael Knowles and John Chapman, for the BBC. Set in London ...

''.Are You Being Served Cast at Radio Times
Retrieved 29 August 2016 On stage, Barraclough appeared in musicals ('' The Boy Friend'' and ''

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

''), straight drama (''

Death of a Salesman ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a montage ...

'') and Christmas shows and pantomimes. He created the role of Santa in the lavish stage musical ''Santa Claus'', which he reprised for several Christmases. In the 2006 New Year Honours, Barraclough was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for services to drama and to charity in the region of North West England.

Death

Barraclough died aged 81, at the Willow Wood Hospice in

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...

, Greater Manchester, on 1 June 2017, following a short illness.

Partial filmography

*''

The Slipper and the Rose ''The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella'' is a 1976 British musical film retelling the classic fairy tale of Cinderella. The film was chosen as the Royal Command Performance motion picture selection for 1976. Directed by Bryan Forb ...

'' (1976) – Tailor *'' Car Trouble'' (1986) – Man with Dog

References

External links

Roy Barraclough
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

*
Corrie.net Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barraclough, Roy 1935 births 2017 deaths Actors from Preston, Lancashire People from Ashton-under-Lyne English male soap opera actors English male stage actors Members of the Order of the British Empire Male actors from Lancashire