Jack Howarth (actor)

John Aubrey Conway "Jack" Howarth, MBE (19 February 1896 – 31 March 1984) was an English television actor best known for his role as Albert Tatlock in the TV series Coronation Street between 1960 and 1984; before this he had a lengthy career in theatre, and in the radio soap opera Mrs. Dale's Diary

Early life

Born at 96 Mitchell Street, Rochdale, Lancashire, Howarth was the son of comedian Bert Howarth, and went to school with the singer and actress Gracie Fields.

As a child he sold theatre programmes at the Theatre Royal, Rochdale, and in 1908 at the age of twelve he began playing juvenile roles on stage.

He married Sarah E. Murgatroyd (known as "Betty" Murgatroyd) at St Mary and St Peter Parish Church, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire,^[1] in 1929. They were married until his death 55 years later. They had a son, John Jr. (born 1930), and a daughter, Anne (born 1939).

Career

Howarth ran a small cinema after the outbreak of the First World War, having been a member of the Lancashire Fusiliers during that war. Howarth also ran his own theatre in Colwyn Bay, taking most of the male roles himself, due to the lack of men available to play the parts.

Howarth toured the country in theatre performances where he met and married his wife Betty in Hull in July 1929. He made over a hundred television appearances in all after 1947, having run a theatre in Wales from 1935 onwards. He also appeared in a number of films including The Man in the White Suit (1951) and Hobson's Choice (1954).

Coronation Street

Howarth made his Coronation Street debut in the first episode in December 1960 and appeared in over 1,700 episodes until his final appearance on 25 January 1984. He hadn't been written out, but was having a spell of time away and was due to return to the set in late April 1984. He never got the chance to do so. Jack Howarth died in Llandudno General Hospital, in Wales from Kidney Failure and Pneumonia on the evening of 31 March 1984, aged 88, with his wife and son John at his bedside. He was cremated six days later at Colwyn Bay. His death meant that Bill Roache, who played Albert Tatlock's nephew Ken Barlow, was the show's only remaining original character, although Brian Mosley (Alf Roberts) and Eileen Derbyshire (Emily Bishop), who joined the show within a few months of its launch, were both still in it at this stage.

Howarth was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1974 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews on the set of Coronation Street.

Honours

Howarth was made an MBE in 1983 for his charity work, especially for supporting the disabled and children with general learning difficulties.

Coronation Street bosses made the decision to kill off Albert Tatlock soon after Howarth's real-life death, and it was revealed that Tatlock had died in the episode that was aired on 14 May 1984.

References

External links

• Jack Howarth at the Internet Movie Database
• Photo
• http://www.corrie.net/profiles/characters/tatlock_albert.html
• Jack Howarth's appearance on This Is Your Life