Coronation Street legend Roy Barraclough died on June 1 at age 81 after a short illness. A star of the stage and screen, Barraclough was best known for his role as Alec Gilroy in the ITV soap. He played Alec for 22 years in total, eventually leaving in 1998.
A devastated Julie Goodyear, played Barraclough’s onscreen wife Bet Lynch, paid tribute to her longtime co-star.
"I have no words to describe how devastated I feel," she said. "We kept in close touch and spoke to each other at least 2 or 3 times every week. I will treasure all the happy times we had working and laughing together. We were just like a married couple, crazy, I know, but true."
Last year, Barraclough told the Mirror that moving the Corrie schedule to six episodes a week was "overkill" and feared the storylines would suffer as a result.
"I don’t wish them ill but I fear it will all end in tears – the quality is bound to suffer," he said. "The actors will not be able to cope, so they will inevitably have to get in more actors to play more characters. With such a huge cast it is very difficult to pull that off. Of course it can be done, but just how well is another matter. It is a mistake, it’s pure overkill."
In a rare interview in 2014, Barraclough told the Daily Mirror that he no longer watched the "humorless" show. He was adamant he would never return to Corrie because he thought he wouldn't fit in.
"I don't think it would work now," he admitted. "If you were to go back now, you would be so out of place.
However, he looked back at his time on Coronation Street happily.
"They were undoubtedly some of my best years. I look back on them with great affection," he revealed.
Watch a scene between Alec and Bet from 1995 below.
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