Peter Adamson as Len Fairclough.
Peter Adamson (16 February 1930 – 17 January 2002) was an English actor who played Len Fairclough in Coronation Street from 1961 to 1983.
Pre Coronation Street Career[]
Peter George Adamson was born on the 16th February 1930 at 54 Hannan Road in the Kensington area of Liverpool (not to be confused with Kensington in London), the youngest of 6 children, born to George McLean Adamson and Lilian Adamson (Nee Holmes), who had married in 1914, with Peter being their youngest child, their penultimate child Clifford was born in 1928 and eldest Dorothy, in 1914, with Cedric born 1917, Douglas born 1921 and Vera born 1926. Peter's paternal grandfather Andrew Adamson was Scottish. Peter's father was a manager of a menswear shop.
As a teenager, Peter started acting in theatre and ran his own theatre company. He met his wife Jean there, and they married in 1953, later going on to have 2 children.
Coronation Street 1961-1983[]
Peter joined the cast of Coronation Street in January 1961 and his first scenes aired later that month. Peter was 31 at the time and played a character who was just over 5 years older than him, as Len was 36 in 1961, and had served in The navy during WWII.
Peter Adamson played the character of Len for over 20 years, and achieved worldwide fame as builder and Councillor Len Fairclough who at first was quite rough and ready but mellowed as time went on.
Peter appeared on This Is Your Life in 1981, where his brothers Cliff and Cedric appeared on the show, as well as Peter's sons Michael and Greg.
In February 1983, he was suspended from the show for selling stories about his fellow cast members. He was given a warning and returned to filming.
In April 1983 he was arrested for alleged sex abuse claims, so was unable to return to filming at that time due to this. He was cleared of the charges in July 1983, and it was planned for him to return to Coronation Street, but he sold his memoirs and on the 26th August 1983, he was sacked due to breach of contract. This meant his character had to be written out of the show abruptly, so Len never got a proper exit storyline, instead he was mentioned by Rita as being around, but was not seen again, and the character was killed off in December 1983.
After Coronation Street[]
Just months after being sacked from Coronation Street, Peter appeared in the West End production Dial M for Murder from November 1983 to March 1984 which was successful. He read some stories for the BBC, and had some other roles in television. However work began to dry up, mainly due to drinking and reputation. In 1991 he was declared bankrupt, and did some stories for the pressing detailing his fall from fame. Peter retired from acting entirely after 1991 and lived on benefits.
By 1995, Peter received his state pension as he turned 65 that February. In the final decade of his life he lived on the state pension and benefits in a one bedroom Housing Association flat in Welton, Lincoln, a total contrast to the luxurious lifestyle he lead when he was in Coronation Street. Peter also lost contact with his fellow cast members, some of whom had been good friends such as Julie Goodyear and Bryan Mosley. Peter even claimed he wrote to Julie Goodyear twice and she never replied.
Peter passed away from stomach cancer on the 17th January 2002 in Lincoln County Hospital. He was 71, and was just a month short of his 72nd birthday.
Trivia[]
- Peter Adamson was known to be like his character Len Fairclough to a degree. He was known to be involved in drunken brawls and had a big taste for beer. He was arrested for drink driving in 1966. Due to the alcohol problems he was given a two month suspension from October to December 1969 in order to deal with it.
Refs[]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Adamson_(actor)
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0011516/
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.4134443,-2.948733,3a,60y,105.76h,96.58t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1suYqnlQYZh5Y-iRHmKRc8YA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu (54 Hannan Road, Liverpool, where Peter Adamson was born on the 16th February 1930)