Bill Roache pays tribute to late star
Bill Roache, who plays Ken Barlow in Coronation Street, has paid tribute to his late co-star Bill Tarmey, describing the actor as "one of the top few legendary characters that the theatre has produced" in an obituary he wrote in The Sun.
"I’ve known Bill many, many years, and he was always friendly and warm," Mr. Roache wrote. "We used to have a joke about my singing. I can’t sing and he was a really, really good singer.
"He sang with the Hallé Orchestra and he also produced albums."
"He was always good-natured, always warm. He was a rock. He was one of those people who was like a father figure. He always had the sensible answer to things.
"Just a lovely man to have around and I feel really, really sad even though we knew he had been ill and his health wasn’t good."
Bill Tarmey: His life on and off the Street
A look back at Bill Tarmey's life before and after he walked down the famous pebbles of Coronation Street.
Tributes paid to 'father figure' both on and off screen
Fellow Coronation Street actors have remembered Bill Tarmey as a caring father figure both on and off screen.
Coronation Street star Bill Tarmey dies
Former Coronation Street star Bill Tarmey, who played Jack Duckworth in the soap, died this morning in Tenerife aged 71, his family said.