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<\/p>\nAlan Rothwell has died aged 89, with Coronation Street paying tribute to one of the soap’s original stars more than six decades after its first episode aired.<\/p>\n
The actor portrayed David Barlow in the ITV programme and appeared in Coronation Street’s inaugural broadcast in December 1960.<\/p>\n
Mr Rothwell’s character was the brother of Ken Barlow, who remains a fixture on the cobbles to this day. The soap confirmed his death on Thursday through its official social media channels.<\/p>\n
Born in Oldham, Lancashire, Mr Rothwell became part of television history when Tony Warren’s creation first appeared on British screens more than 60 years ago.<\/p>\n
Alan Rothwell has passed away aged 89<\/p>\n
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Prior to landing his breakthrough role, Mr Rothwell had already established himself in radio drama, voicing Jimmy Grange in The Archers.<\/p>\n
His time as David Barlow spanned eight years, although his appearances were intermittent. <\/p>\n
After initially serving as a regular cast member from December 1960 until June 1961, he departed the programme before returning for occasional episodes in 1963 and 1964.<\/p>\n
The actor later resumed the role full-time before making his final appearance in 1968. <\/p>\n
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Tributes have begun pouring in for the star<\/p>\n
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David Barlow was later killed off-screen two years after the actor’s departure from the soap.<\/p>\n
The Barlow brothers were portrayed as very different personalities, with Ken passionate about literature while David pursued a professional football career before an injury forced him into early retirement.<\/p>\n
Following his departure from Weatherfield, Mr Rothwell continued to work extensively across British television.<\/p>\n
He joined Channel 4’s Brookside shortly after its launch in 1985, initially appearing as a community lawyer before later taking on the role of Nicholas Black.<\/p>\n
![\"Alan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778786833_551_alan-rothwell.png\")
Mr Rothwell with his wife and two boys Ben left and Toby right July 1971<\/p>\n
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The actor also appeared several times in Emmerdale, portraying a judge in 1993 before later playing John Kenyon between 1997 and 1998.<\/p>\n
His other television credits included Casualty and Heartbeat, where he portrayed Reverend Jackson.<\/p>\n
Coronation Street paid tribute to the actor on X, writing: “We’re very sorry to hear of Alan Rothwell’s passing and extend our sincerest condolences to his family at this very sad time.<\/p>\n
“He created an iconic and memorable character in David Barlow and will forever be remembered as one of the original cast members of Coronation Street.”<\/p>\n
![\"Alan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alan-rothwell.jpg\")
Alan Rothwell<\/p>\n
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Ms Samia Longchambon, who plays Maria Connor in the soap, also shared her memories of the late actor.<\/p>\n
She wrote: “So sad to hear this. Alan was also a drama teacher at our drama school and I have such fond memories of being taught by him… he was a wonderful man.”<\/p>\n
Fans of the star have been leaving their own heartfelt tributes online.<\/p>\n
“Used to watch him on Hickory\u2019s House, so sad, RIP Alan,” one fan posted on X, as another added: “I remember him from Corrie but also pantomimes in Hunstanton which were hilarious! RIP Alan & thoughts to his family!”<\/p>\n
![\"Alan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778786834_779_alan-rothwell.jpg\")
Mr Rothwell also appeared several times in Emmerdale, portraying a judge in 1993<\/p>\n
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A third fan posted: “RIP Alan. My mum & grandma used to visit his mum when they worked in the mills in Shaw.”<\/p>\n
Another added: “REST IN PEACE ALAN.”<\/p>\n
Someone else penned: “This is sad news. R.I.P.”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alan Rothwell has died aged 89, with Coronation Street paying tribute to one of the soap’s original stars…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484803,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265],"tags":[435,18,117,19,17,5,63657,128],"class_list":{"0":"post-484802","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-celebrity","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-sgg","15":"tag-tv"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}