Co-stars lead tributes to former Corrie star Tarmey
Bill Tarmey, who as Coronation Street’s Jack Duckworth was one of British television’s most recognisable faces, has died aged 71.
An ITV spokeswoman confirmed the actor, who left the soap in 2010, died this morning while on holiday in Tenerife.
Tarmey played the loveable, pigeon-fancying rogue – with his trademark glasses held together with sticky tape – for more than 30 years.
A statement from the show said: “The cast, crew and production team at Coronation Street are devastated to hear of Bill’s death. Our thoughts and prayers are with Bill’s wife and soulmate Ali and their family at this very sad time.”
His family asked “for privacy as they grieve for a wonderful husband, father and brother”.
Tarmey and Liz Dawn, who played his battle-axe wife Vera until she left the show in 2008, were among the most popular characters on the street.
Dawn paid tribute, saying: “ Bill was part of my family. When you work with someone for so long, as we did, it becomes more than just work.
“Our families were close and I am devastated for Ali and his family. I am totally bereft. He will always be remembered by everyone he came into contact with because he was such a kind and generous man.
“You couldn’t wish to meet a more lovely man and a true gentleman. He was a gentle giant and I will miss him so much.”
Tarmey, a native Mancunian, made his first appearance in the soap as an extra in 1977 while working as a club singer. Show bosses spotted his potential and two years later he landed the role that made him famous.
Tarmey was dogged by ill-health and suffered a heart attack at the age of 35, followed by a stroke a year later.
He was a heavy smoker and underwent a quadruple heart bypass 15 years ago, and another bypass operation in June 2002.
In his final scenes in the soap, viewers saw his character die peacefully in his armchair before he was seen, in a dream-like sequence, sharing a last dance with Vera.
Around 11 million people tuned in to watch, but Tarmey remained modest about his acting talent.
Writing in his autobiography, Jack Duckworth And Me, he said: “I’m just a pillock who comes into a studio to say some words that some other clever person has written.
“For years, I’d managed to get away with it, but I’d always been waiting for the bubble to burst.”
Nigel Pivaro, who played the Duckworths’ layabout son Terry, said he was “devastated” at the death of a man he regarded as “a second father”.
He said: “He was a very wise and dignified man who taught me a great deal and whose counsel I came to value greatly.
“He was a lovely man who cared deeply for his family and friends. We are all rightly bereft at the loss we will feel knowing that the world will be a little poorer without Bill to lighten it up with his warm humour.”
Julie Goodyear, who played Bet Lynch, said: “This news is so very sad, not just for me but for all his other friends and of course his wife, Ali, and all his family.
“This wonderful man will be sadly missed.”
The soap’s longest-serving star, Bill Roache, who has played Ken Barlow since it started, said: “Over the years Coronation Street has produced characters who are really powerful and legendary – Jack Duckworth was one of those.
“He was the downtrodden loveable rogue who never got anything right but was loved by everyone. This was down to Bill Tarmey’s incredible skills as an actor: He had amazing comic timing and was a genuinely warm and wonderful human being.”
Tarmey, who released a string of albums, had two top 40 hits, with One Voice which reached number 16 in 1993, and his version of Wind Beneath My Wings which went to number 40 a year later.
