In between being a teacher, Ken has also done stints as a journalist, taxi driver and even a supermarket trolley assistant!
The story of my life. A variety of dreams and ambitions, some shattered, some just getting a bit tatty around the edges.
1960 A university undergraduate, he lives with mum Ida, dad Frank and brother David, but is embarrassed by his working class background.
1961 Graduates with a 2:1 in Modern History and English and misses an offer of a teaching job in Surrey to look after Frank after Ida is fatally run over.
1962 Marries hairdresser Valerie Tatlock in August.
1965 Valerie gives birth to twins Peter and Susan in April.
1966 Has an affair with glamorous reporter Jackie Marsh.
1967 Banged up in prison for seven days for taking part in a banned demo against the Vietnam war.
1971 Valerie dies in a freak electrical accident. Can’t cope with being a single dad and sends the twins to Val’s mum in Glasgow.
1973 Posh girlfriend Elaine Perkins spurns his proposal so briefly dates Norma Ford then breaks her heart by marrying Janet Reid.
1974 Janet leaves him.
1976 Married woman Wendy Nightingale moves in with him, but soon returns to her hubby.
1977 Janet returns, depressed, and takes a fatal overdose. Later, Ken is rescued by helicopter after an accident on a walking holiday with Peter.
1979 Dates single mum Deirdre Langton.
1980 Finishes with Deirdre when it gets too serious.
1981 Rekindles his relationship with Deirdre and they marry just before Prince Charles and Lady Di’s wedding in July.
1983 Confronts Mike Baldwin after discovering he’s been seeing Deirdre but saves his marriage.
1985 Daughter Susan moves to Weatherfield and dates Ken’s arch rival Mike.
1986 Forced to see Susan married to Mike. Legally adopts Deirdre’s daughter Tracy.
1987 Takes in Susan after she walks out on Mike. She later aborts Mike’s baby. 1989 Beds secretary Wendy Crozier on his 50th birthday.
1990 Deirdre demands a divorce after discovering the affair. A distraught Ken tries to take an overdose.
1991 Dates Alma Sedgewick, but Mike seduces Alma away from him.
1992 Starts seeing Maggie Redman, mother of Mike’s son Mark.
1994 Gets hairdresser Denise Osbourne pregnant but she doesn’t want anything to do with him.
1995 Becomes dad to son Daniel, born on 4 January. Reunited with Denise but she cheats on him with brother-in-law Brian.
1996 Denise leaves with Brian. Ken takes on Daniel and is reunited with ex-wife Deirdre. Denise takes Daniel with her to Scotland and, depressed, he dumps Deirdre.
1999 Reunited with Deirdre after a testing time with Tracy and move in together, along with Deirdre’s mum Blanche.
2001 Mike learns Ken’s secret – that Susan had Mike’s baby after all. Susan dies and Mike fights Ken for custody of Susan’s son Adam.
2002 Arrested for assault after punching tearaway pupil Ade, who had been ‘borrowing’ his car to get him speeding tickets.
2003 Discovers Deirdre’s one-night-stand with Dev but forgives her. Finds out Peter has a baby, Simon, with secret lover Lucy but is denied access to his grandson.
2004 Becomes a granddad again when Tracy has a baby, Amy. Wins a car along with the rest of the Barlow family in a TV quiz show.
2005 Proposes to Deirdre but they miss their own wedding when Tracy has an accident. Finally get wed, coincidentally just before the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla.
2006 Former rival Mike Baldwin dies in his arms from dementia-related pneumonia.
William was born on 25 April 1932 in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, to mum Hester, a keen amateur dramatist, and dad, Vince, a local GP. William began to study medicine, but was drafted for National Service and liked the army life so much that he later joined the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He spent five years in the army and achieved the rank of Captain, serving in such far-flung places as British Guyana, Jamaica, and Arabia.
In 1957, William left the forces and had plans to set up a Persian carpet business, but instead took acting lesson and joined rep in Nottingham, Oldham and Clacton-on-Sea. As well as small parts in four films, he moved into TV and appeared in various shows, including medical drama Emergency Ward 10. He was soon offered the role of Ken Barlow in new serial Coronation Street and is one of the few remaining original cast members.
William is divorced from first wife Anna Cropper, with whom he has two children, Vanya and Linus, who is a well-respected screen actor. He has two children with his second wife Sara Mottram, Verity and William, but they sadly lost another daughter, Edwina, when she was just 18-months-old to a viral infection.
