Real life of ITV Corrie's Roy Cropper actor David Neilson including rarely seen wife and personal story behind iconic shopping bag
01.10.2022 - 11:17
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that David Neilson is a legend of Coronation Street. The actor has spent an incredible 27 years playing the ITV's soap's much-loved Roy Cropper. The cafe owner made his debut on the cobbles back in July 1995.
He started out living in the Crimea Street flats alongside fellow tenant Deirdre Barlow. He ended up working at Jim's Café in Rosamund Street but after a year, Roy bought Alma Baldwin's majority share of the business and renamed it Roy's Rolls, as it still remains today. Roy was initially a 'secondary character' but was given a more prominent role in 1997.
In the years since, Roy has been featured in numerous high-profile storylines, most notably marrying the first transgender character in a British soap opera, Hayley Patterson, played by Julie Hesmondhalgh. There was also the time when Tracy Barlow spiked Roy's drink at a wedding reception before taking him home and putting him in her bed. Tracy later announced she was pregnant with his child, leaving Hayley devastated.
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The truth later came out and Roy and Hayley ended up becoming godparents to Tracy's daughter, Amy, who she shares with Steve McDonald. Then, in 2010, the pair officially married when the law was changed to recognise their union. Tragically, Hayley took her own life in Roy's arms, in January 2014, by drinking a lethal cocktail after living with terminal pancreatic cancer.
But who is the man behind the much-loved character? Well, prior to joining Corrie, David had a few other TV roles - he actually appeared in the soap's BBC rival EastEnders way back in 1991. He made his Walford debut in August