Alan Rothwell (born 9 February 1937) is an English actor and

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people ...

. He played David Barlow in the ITV soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'' as a regular from 1960 to 1961, and again from 1963 to 1968, and Nicholas Black in ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Bro ...

'' between 1985 and 1986. His other acting credits include playing Mike in ''

Top Secret Classified information is confidential material that a government deems to be sensitive information which must be protected from unauthorized disclosure that requires special handling and dissemination controls. Access is restricted by law or ...

'' (1961–1962), a recurring role in '' Heartbeat'' (1994–1995), and various roles in ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'' (2004–2016). He also presented the children's television series ''Picture Box'' and '' Hickory House''.

Career

Rothwell was born in

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. He first came to fame playing the character Jimmy Grange in

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...

, then David Barlow in the then new ITV

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

'' 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 ''Gideon's Way'' is a British television crime series that was made by ITC Entertainment and broadcast by ITV in 1964–1966, following the 1958 film, '' Gideon's Day''. The film and series are based on novels by John Creasey (writing as 'J. ...

'' 1964 as a young man wrongly accused of killing his girlfriend played by

Carol White Carole Joan White (1 April 1943 – 16 September 1991) was an English actress. White became famous for her performances in the television play ''Cathy Come Home'' (1966) and the films ''Poor Cow'' (1967) and '' I'll Never Forget What's ' ...

. He also had roles in the lost 1960 film '' Linda'', also starring Carol White, and the 1971 film ''

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp. 155� ...

'', starring

Michael York Michael York (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television, and stage actor. After performing on stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Romeo ...

and

Elke Sommer Elke Sommer (; née Schletz, 5 November 1940) is a German actress. She appeared in numerous films throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in ''The Pink Panther'' sequel '' A Shot in the Dark'' (1964), the Bob Hope comedy '' Boy, Did I ...

. 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 ''

''. 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 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 ...

'', ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

'', '' Heartbeat'', ''

'', '' Shameless'' and '' Bedlam'', ''A Song For Jenny, (BBC 2015)'', '' Rovers, (Jellylegs, 2016)''. In 2004, Rothwell guest-starred in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' audio adventure '' The Twilight Kingdom''. In 2015, he appeared as a villager in the BBC TV series ''

The Musketeers ''The Musketeers'' is a British period action-drama TV series based on the characters from Alexandre Dumas's 1844 novel ''The Three Musketeers'' and co-produced by BBC America and BBC Worldwide. The series follows the musketeers Athos, Aramis ...

'' 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

* {{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