Roy Barraclough

Versatile British actor Roy Barraclough, MBE, enjoyed popularity playing diametrically opposed characters on two popular television series: with comedian Les Dawson, he donned drag to play a gossipy old woman in numerous sketch comedies and television commercials, while on the long-running "Coronation Street" (ITV, 1960-), he was a pompous, double-dealing club owner and talent agent. Born in Preston, a city in the English county of Lancashire, Barraclough developed an interest in acting as a boy after attending numerous productions by local theaters, and as an adult, performed with amateur groups while working as a draftsman for an engineering factory. In 1962, he turned professional by joining the repertory companies at theaters in Huddlesfied and Oldham, among other towns, and made his television debut in 1964. Among his earliest small screen appearances was a turn as a tour guide on "Coronation Street," and would return to the series in different minor roles on four separate occasions before being cast as ill-tempered club owner Alec Gilroy in 1972. Between those assignments, Barraclough was a guest performer on numerous television programs, including series regular work on the ITV daytime drama "Castle Haven" (1969) and the beloved children's series "Pardon My Genie" (ITV, 1972-73). His greatest success during this period was as Cissie, a elderly Lancashire woman who frequently gossiped with her housewife friend Ada, played by comedian Les Dawson. The characters were introduced in the fourth season of Dawson's sketch comedy series "Sez Les" (ITV, 1969-1976) and became remarkably popular with audiences, who faithfully tuned in to the duo's numerous reunions until Dawson's death in 1993. While enjoying this success, Barraclough also made his debut as Alec Gilroy on "Coronation Street." Initially a minor recurring character that operated a working man's club and later, a talent agency, Gilroy became a regular character in 1986, when he married Julie Goodyear's Bet Lynch largely to help her with financial difficulties. Their storyline ping-ponged between Gilroy's penchant for crooked schemes and his relationship with Bet, culminating in 1992 when the character left her to take a job away from the show's setting in fictional Weatherfield. Barraclough appeared on stage and in several other series, including "Mother's Ruin" (ITV 1994), for which he played a 50-year-old bachelor under the sway of his mother (Dora Bryan). In 1995, he reprised his role as Alec Gilroy on "Coronation Street" and continued with the series until 1998, when the character sold his stake in the Rovers Return pub to his granddaughter Vicky (Chloe Newsome). Barraclough remained in the public eye for much of the two decades that followed his last turn on "Coronation Street." He was made a member of the Order of the British Empire in 2006, and appeared in numerous stage productions and television shows, most notable as Derek Jacobi's friend on the critically praised "Last Tango in Halifax" (BBC One, 2012-13) and a stuffy senior sales assistant on a 2016 revamp of "Are You Being Served?" (BBC). The one-off production would serve as Barraclough's final screen appearance: he died after a brief illness on June 1, 2017 at the age of 81.