| Bill Tarmey | |
|---|---|
| Born | William Piddington 4 April 1941 Ardwick, Manchester, England |
| Occupation | Actor, singer, author |
| Years active | 1968–2010 |
| Spouse | Alma (m. 1962–present) |
| Children | 2 |
Bill Tarmey (born William Piddington on 4 April 1941) is an English actor, singer and author, best known for playing Jack Duckworth on the soap opera Coronation Street. First appearing in the role in 1979, he played it continuously from 1983 to 2010.
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Tarmey was born in Ardwick, Manchester. Shortly after his birth, he moved with his family to live in Bradford, Manchester, where he was also educated. Following his father's death during the Second World War, his mother Lilian married for a second time, to a man called Robert Cleworth. William attended the Bradford Memorial School and the Queens Street School which became the Philips Park Secondary Modern School.[1] On leaving school, he was apprenticed to his stepfather, who was an asphalt spreader by trade. He also worked in the construction industry for a number of years.
In 1955, he met his future wife Alma in the local youth club. They went on to marry in 1962 and have two children together: Carl (born 1966) and Sara (born 1970).
In 1968, Tarmey gave up his job in the building industry to work as a nightclub singer and entertainer. In order to supplement his income, he took on work as an extra on shows such as Coronation Street, amongst others. Despite suffering a serious heart attack in 1976 and a stroke in 1977, he was eventually offered the role of Jack Duckworth, a character who would go on to become an institution in British soap operas. He underwent quintuple bypass surgery in 1986, and had a pacemaker fitted after suffering a second heart attack in 2002, which was used as a storyline in Coronation Street to explain his absence.
Tarmey was an extra on the Granada TV film King Lear (1983) which starred Sir Laurence Olivier in the title role.[2]
He is an accomplished singer, who has released several albums. Three of them (A Gift of Love (1993), Time for Love (1994) and After Hours (1996)) appeared in the UK Albums Chart.[3] He and his wife Alma presently live in Ashton-under-Lyne. He is an uncle of Peter Morgan, a popular presenter on BBC Radio Stoke.
Tarmey wanted to leave his role in the long running television series, Coronation Street, in 2009 due to his multiple health problems, which include severe breathing problems. The show's producers, however, persuaded him to stay until the 50th anniversary, in December of the following year. News of his departure was announced on 9 April 2010.
Commenting, he said, "I've had the most amazing 30 years playing Jack. Because of him I've made fantastic friends and travelled all over the world. I'll be sorry to say goodbye".[4] Tarmey's departure was pushed forward to the 8 November 2010 episode because of his health; in this episode Jack died asleep in his chair in a manner similar to the death of Vera (although Jack had a storyline illness). This was revealed in What's On TV and several other television guides for that week.[5] Tarmey was the second longest serving male actor in the show.
In a March 2011 interview with Nigel Pivaro Tarmey revealed he also had to leave the series because his son Carl has a brain tumour.[6]
Tarmey announced in 2010 that his autobiography entitled Being Jack – My Life on the Street and Other Adventures would be released later in the year and it was published on 14 October 2010.[1][7]