Джон Хоуарт: Жизнь и карьера актера «Улицы Коронации»

English actor

John Aubrey Conway Howarth (19 February 1896 – 31 March 1984) was an English stage, radio and television actor, best remembered for his role as grumpy but likeable elderly war veteran Albert Tatlock in the TV series Coronation Street between 1960 and 1984, in which he was an original cast member. Prior to his work with Coronation Street, he had a lengthy career in theatre, and in the radio soap opera Mrs. Dale's Diary.

Born at 96 Mitchell Street, Rochdale, Lancashire, Howarth was the son of Amelia Mary (née Townsend) and comedian Bert Howarth. He had two brothers, Sydney and Sam, and three sisters, Ella, Elsie and Mary Louisa. Howarth went to school with the singer and actress Gracie Fields. As a child, Howarth sold theatre programmes at the Theatre Royal, Rochdale, and in 1908 at the age of twelve he began playing juvenile roles on stage alongside his father. He joined the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1915 and served in France and Belgium in World War I.

Howarth ran a small cinema after the First World War. From 1935, he also ran his own theatre in Colwyn Bay, taking most of the male roles himself, due to the lack of men available to play the parts. He appeared in the first stage production of Dracula in 1924, in a company run by Hamilton Deane. He toured the country in theatre performances where he met and married his wife Betty in Hull on 25 July 1929. On Howarth's wedding day, Deane approached Howarth and asked him to appear on stage in Dracula in Sheffield that night. Reflecting on his role as Albert, Howarth said he would never have joined the cast of Coronation Street had he known it would run so long. The couple were married for 55 years until Howarth's death, and had a son, John Jr., in 1930. It was reported that Howarth bought his wife so much jewellery, she had to keep it in the bank. Prior to his death, Howarth had a lengthy absence from filming Coronation Street, explained by a storyline of Albert visiting his daughter. There was press speculation in several newspapers that Howarth was due to leave Coronation Street; however, these were disputed by Granada, stating that he was due to return to filming in April 1984. His wife was reported as saying "Jack has no intention of resigning. He will be in Coronation Street for as long as Granada want him." The last speculative newspaper article appeared on 1 April 1984 in The Mirror, a day after his death, reporting that his contract would not be renewed that November. Howarth's death was reported on 2 April 1984. Howarth's son died in January 2016, aged 85.

Howarth was the subject of This Is Your Life in November 1974 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews on the set of Coronation Street. When Andrews said, "I'm taking you to London", Howarth replied "Oh no, you're not, you know." He was eventually persuaded to appear on the show, joined by the cast of Coronation Street, with tributes from stars including Bryan Mosley, Betty Driver, Eileen Derbyshire, Margot Bryant, Thora Hird and Arthur Lowe. Howarth was made an MBE in January 1983 for his charity work, especially for supporting the disabled and children with general learning difficulties. He was national vice president for Scope and left them £250 in his will. Howarth had raised more than £50,000 for the charity by collecting a donation each time he signed an autograph.