Alan Rothwell

Alan Rothwell (born 9 February 1937) is an English actor and television presenter. He played David Barlow in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' as a regular from 1960 to 1961, and again from 1963 to 1968, and Nicholas Black in ''Brookside'' between 1985 and 1986. His other acting credits include playing Mike in ''Top Secret'' (1961–1962), a recurring role in '' Heartbeat'' (1994–1995), and various roles in ''Doctors'' (2004–2016). He also presented the children's television series ''Picture Box'' and '' Hickory House''.

Career

Rothwell was born in Oldham, Lancashire. He first came to fame playing the character Jimmy Grange in The Archers, then David Barlow in the then new ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' as a regular from December 1960 until June 1961, then appeared for two episodes in June 1963, before returning as a regular from December 1964 to April 1968. The character was killed off off-screen two years later. He also featured as a regular character in all 26 episodes of the 1961–1962 British spy series ''Top Secret'' in the role of "Mike". He was a guest star in ''Gideon's Way'' 1964 as a young man wrongly accused of killing his girlfriend played by Carol White. He also had roles in the lost 1960 film '' Linda'', also starring Carol White, and the 1971 film ''Zeppelin'', starring Michael York and Elke Sommer.

Rothwell then became known as a presenter to a generation of children, appearing on the children's television programmes ''Picture Box'' from 1969 to 1990 and '' Hickory House'' from 1973 to 1978.

He returned to soap operas in 1985, this time as the heroin addict Nicholas Black in ''Brookside''. In 2002, he appeared in the television drama film '' Shipman''. He also played Gerry Stringer in all six episodes of '' Dead Man Weds'' in 2005. Among his many other television credits are parts in ''Casualty'', ''Emmerdale'', '' Heartbeat'', ''Doctors'', '' Shameless'' and '' Bedlam'', ''A Song For Jenny, (BBC 2015)'', '' Rovers, (Jellylegs, 2016)''. In 2004, Rothwell guest-starred in the ''Doctor Who'' audio adventure '' The Twilight Kingdom''.

In 2015, he appeared as a villager in the BBC TV series ''The Musketeers'' episode 2.5 "The Return".

In 2018, he appeared as Douglas in 20th Century-Fox's British comedy, '' Walk Like A Panther'', released in cinemas 9 March.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothwell, Alan
English male soap opera actors
English male stage actors
1937 births
Living people
Male actors from Oldham
20th-century English male actors
21st-century English male actors
English children's television presenters