Coronation Street's Roy Cropper is one of the most iconic characters on TV and has been played by actor David Neilson for almost three decades.
Roy first made his appearance on the Cobbles in 1995 as a secondary character, but two years later, Roy became a permanent fixture on the ITV soap and ever since, he has captured the nation’s hearts as loveable Roy, with his signature cardigans and shopping bag he seems to take everywhere, writes The Mirror.
And many die-hard fans of the soap will recall Roy's heartbreaking love affair with anorak-wearing Hayley, played by actress Julie Hesmondhalgh.
Viewers were absolutely devastated in 2014 when Hayley, the first transgender character in British soap, sadly died after taking her own life following a terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis.
After Hayley's passing, Roy went on to have a short-lived romance with Cathy and also discovered he had a niece, Nina, who now lives with him and helps run his cafe, Roy’s Rolls.
Most recently on the soap, poor Roy was rushed to hospital after suffering a heart attack, but luckily the loveable character seems to be on the mend.
We take a look at what David’s life is like off-screen and how his family inspired some of his Corrie character Roy’s most famous traits.
Odd jobs before fame
It is hard to believe that David is 74 years old now.
He was born in Loughborough in the Midlands in March 1949, and moved to London to study acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama when he was 20.
In a bid to pay for his studies, David worked as a gas fitter, ice cream salesman and pulled pints as a barman.
David bagged a couple of small roles in Z-Cars, Young at Heart, Casualty, Heartbeat and Bergerac.
He even briefly starred in EastEnders in the early 90s as property buyer Mr Webster and appeared on Stars In Their Eyes as singer Roy Orbison.
But David found his big break in Coronation Street as Roy Cropper in 1995, becoming a show regular two years later.
Wife Jane said Roy could have Asperger's
When he landed the part in Corrie, David was already with wife Jane, who he is thought to have been married to for 48 years.
The couple have one son Daniel, now 40, and are grandparents to two young granddaughters.
David's wife Jane is a special needs teacher who has worked with people with autism throughout her career, and has suggested that David’s character Roy could have Asperger’s.
In his earliest scenes, Roy was depicted as a sinister loner who pestered Deirdre Barlow, but he was able to give the character more depth following advice from Jane.
David told The Mirror: “Roy was a psychopath. He was stalking Deirdre and was a bit scary. It's nice to play psychos, but they don't stay around too long.
"My wife is a special needs teacher and she worked with people with autism. She said Roy could have Asperger's syndrome, making him socially inept, rather than menacing. Nobody really knew what Asperger's was back in 1995, so it's my wife I owe it to.
"It's never mentioned in the story though, and it shouldn't be - Roy is a human being, and a label doesn't help him. But I think he's got it. It gives him reasons for his behaviour and gives me something to play. I enjoy idiosyncrasies in people and Roy is full of them."
Roy's shopping bag belongs to David's late mum
David’s mum Phyllis sadly passed away just before he got his role on Coronation Street, but she provided him with one of his signature props – his infamous shopping bag!
The bag David uses on the cobbles is the same one Phyllis used to do her shopping around Loughborough for years.
In a previous interview with The Mirror, David revealed: “That bag went round Loughborough market for many years!
“My mother died just before I joined the show so I was chucking stuff out and thought it would be good for Roy.
"He was always knocking on Deirdre’s door, asking if she needed a bit of shopping and initially they gave me a carrier bag.
"But you see guys standing at bus stops with bags like that and I thought I’d introduce it. It’s also very handy to carry my scripts round in!"
Secret move to Spain
In 2002, David and Jane swapped their home in the UK for Barcelona to escape the fame his character Roy brought him.
“It was a shock. Occasionally I would be on television in something and someone would recognise me as an actor, but this was different," he told The Mirror.
“If you are in someone’s living room three times a week you become a member of the family, so I was surprised at first.”
By nature a private man who rarely gives interviews, David revealed he moved to Spain to try and escape the attention.
“I need to get away from Roy and be myself and they don’t know Roy in Barcelona,” he shared. “If I’m in Spain for a few days I forget what I do for a living, which is the important thing.
“It means when I come back and someone shouts ‘Roy’, for a moment I forget they’re actually talking to me. And it’s only a couple of hours on the plane so I can commute to Manchester easily enough.
“Another reason we moved was for excitement. I like to do different things and it’s been good to learn a language and get into a different culture. Our son Daniel had left for university [at the time] and we were in Bristol in a big house and we thought, ‘What shall we do?’”
Quite a lot, as it turned out. David completed an Open University degree, studied Spanish and was learning to play the guitar last we heard...
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