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Jack Duckworth and Me: My Life on the Street and Other Adventures
Actor Bill Tarmey first appeared as Jack Duckworth in Coronation Streetin November 1979, when his formidable on-screen wife Vera dragged him to Brian and Gail Tilsley's wedding, only to have him sneak off for a pint at the first opportunity. After playing what is arguably the nation's best-loved soap character for 31 years, Bill leaves the series in December 2010. To coincide with this momentous event in soap history, Bill now tells the full story of what it has been like to play this loveable rogue for almost half his life. He reveals the hilarious on-set japes behind the scenes - such as getting fits of the giggles with Curly Watts and Alec Gilroy, what it was like playing the Romeo to Bet Lynch and Dulcie Froggat, plus the more emotional times such as when Bernard Youens, who played Stan Ogden, died. There is also the fascinating story of Bill's early years growing up in the streets of post-war Manchester, with bombsites for playgrounds and an ex-Navy grandpa who taught him how to box. Destined to become a master asphalter like his Dad, Bill never gave up his love of singing, and by the late 1960s he had made a name for himself in the unforgiving environment of the Working Men's Club circuit. Taking work as a TV extra, Bill soon found himself treading the famous cobbled streets, and was a natural in his newly created role of Jack, which has been uncanny in mirroring Bill's own life for its lurches of fortune. Packed with anecdotes to delight both Corrie fans and lovers of British TV everywhere, this warm-hearted and substantial autobiography is THE soap star memoir the country has been waiting for. They will not be disappointed.
- GenresNonfictionBiography
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 9, 2013
About a quarter of this bio is a really good, super interesting read. Unfortunately once Bill Tarmey’s life catches up to when he takes the role of Jack Duckworth on Coronation Street it becomes Jack’s biography and hardly includes anything else from the rest of Bill’s life.
Instead we get a complete breakdown of Jack’s adventures and follies on The Street. How many episodes he was in per year based on appearance charts, which cast members, left the show or died or were added. How he and Vera’s volatile on screen marriage was holding out. Basically it’s a rundown of Coronation Street for the past 31 years. I will admit that these behind the scenes moments and story synopsis became way more interesting once it got to the point that I started watching the show and knew the characters and storylines. But still, I wanted to read more about Bill Tarmey not the character Jack. I guess I should have surmised from the title “JACK DUCKWORTH and me (the “and me” is written in tiny letters) that this was going to be a bio about a fictional character. Shouldn’t I? Anyways.
Born in 1941 in a rented terrace house in Manchester England, Bill’s early life was one of poverty, food rationing, tragedy and a close knit family that all lived a stone’s throw from each other. His biological father was killed in 1944 while serving as an ambulance driver in the Second World War and Bill has no memories of him. What I found interesting here is that despite the adversity of his childhood, he only has happy memories of the time. Everyone was in the same boat. Young widowed mothers, air raid sirens and playing in bombed out buildings were the norm. You were often hungry and there was no time to be idle, everyone worked at what they could which often included factories. He admits to being hopeless in the classroom but gifted when it came to music. This entire early section really took me into postwar England and the struggles the country faced.
“There was never a turkey for Christmas lunch. It would be a chicken and most of the breast would go to my dad because he was a working man and needed to keep up his strength. For me, whose only experience of meat was corned beef or Prem (a cheap version of Spam) a chicken wing was a real treat.”
Bill met Alice, the woman he would spend the rest of his life with at the age of 14 and married her at 18. At the time of their marriage in 1962 he was working as an asphalter and had .37p in his pocket. There is very little insight into his marriage or personal life, except for his children being born, but it seems to me like theirs is a real love story.
Bill talks a lot about his singing career which started in the church, and continued into the pubs and club scene. It’s my opinion that this is the career path he would have preferred and his true passion. His real life eerily mirrored that of his alter ego he played on screen, with lurches into fortune and fame and just plain luck. “I feared that some new producer would recognise my failings and wonder what Bill Tarmey was doing pretending to be an actor. I could never relax because I always thought the bubble was going to burst at any moment. I’ve had a wonderful time playing him it’s just that for a long time I felt a bit of a fraud.”
Sadly The Cobbles lost Bill Tarmey (Nov 10/12) and with his passing Coronation Street loses a true legend. I will miss Jack Duckworth; his last Corrie episode still brings tears to my eyes, as he dances with his Vera. Cheers Jack!
374jb3.
Instead we get a complete breakdown of Jack’s adventures and follies on The Street. How many episodes he was in per year based on appearance charts, which cast members, left the show or died or were added. How he and Vera’s volatile on screen marriage was holding out. Basically it’s a rundown of Coronation Street for the past 31 years. I will admit that these behind the scenes moments and story synopsis became way more interesting once it got to the point that I started watching the show and knew the characters and storylines. But still, I wanted to read more about Bill Tarmey not the character Jack. I guess I should have surmised from the title “JACK DUCKWORTH and me (the “and me” is written in tiny letters) that this was going to be a bio about a fictional character. Shouldn’t I? Anyways.
Born in 1941 in a rented terrace house in Manchester England, Bill’s early life was one of poverty, food rationing, tragedy and a close knit family that all lived a stone’s throw from each other. His biological father was killed in 1944 while serving as an ambulance driver in the Second World War and Bill has no memories of him. What I found interesting here is that despite the adversity of his childhood, he only has happy memories of the time. Everyone was in the same boat. Young widowed mothers, air raid sirens and playing in bombed out buildings were the norm. You were often hungry and there was no time to be idle, everyone worked at what they could which often included factories. He admits to being hopeless in the classroom but gifted when it came to music. This entire early section really took me into postwar England and the struggles the country faced.
“There was never a turkey for Christmas lunch. It would be a chicken and most of the breast would go to my dad because he was a working man and needed to keep up his strength. For me, whose only experience of meat was corned beef or Prem (a cheap version of Spam) a chicken wing was a real treat.”
Bill met Alice, the woman he would spend the rest of his life with at the age of 14 and married her at 18. At the time of their marriage in 1962 he was working as an asphalter and had .37p in his pocket. There is very little insight into his marriage or personal life, except for his children being born, but it seems to me like theirs is a real love story.
Bill talks a lot about his singing career which started in the church, and continued into the pubs and club scene. It’s my opinion that this is the career path he would have preferred and his true passion. His real life eerily mirrored that of his alter ego he played on screen, with lurches into fortune and fame and just plain luck. “I feared that some new producer would recognise my failings and wonder what Bill Tarmey was doing pretending to be an actor. I could never relax because I always thought the bubble was going to burst at any moment. I’ve had a wonderful time playing him it’s just that for a long time I felt a bit of a fraud.”
Sadly The Cobbles lost Bill Tarmey (Nov 10/12) and with his passing Coronation Street loses a true legend. I will miss Jack Duckworth; his last Corrie episode still brings tears to my eyes, as he dances with his Vera. Cheers Jack!
374jb3.
November 17, 2022
Very flat retelling of Mr Tarmey's life and time as Jack Duckworth in Coronation Street. Reminded me a bit of having to write a story in junior school English class - 'What I did on my holiday'; the writing style was similar. Padded out lists of I-did-this and I-did-that, followed by recaps of Jack Duckworth's most memorable story lines in the show. A somewhat dreary read.
© Koplowitz 2022
© Koplowitz 2022
February 26, 2016
When you hear the cast who worked with talk about Bill Tarmey, they always talk fondly of what a lovely man he was, and that is exactly what you think when you read this book. He does sound like an honest, decent and caring human being, who was totally devoted to first love and wife Ali.
The book covers his early life, trying to make ends meet to provide the money to marry Ali, who he felt was out of his league in every way. He gets involved in singing in clubs and makes a living from that and work as an extra on TV. It was during these appearances as an extra on Coronation Street-remember the man who once dropped the bar hatch on Ernie Bishop's hand?-that he was spotted and brought in as the husband of Vera Duckworth.
Bill goes into a lot of detail about his years on Corrie, including a year by year update about what was happening to the Duckworths. It was actually very sad to read about the filming of his and Vera's on screen deaths and the effects that it had on everyone involved. He talks about his protests to Brian Park for the spate of sackings he brought in. He was angry that Kevin Kennedy was sacked because the writers couldn't think up a story for his character Curly, which he thought was totally crazy when these people are paid to think up stories.
His on set stories are funny. He first appeared as Jack at Gail and Brian Tilsley's wedding, and Liz Dawn who plays Vera stood too close to a heater between takes and set her dress on fire. His first filming with Liz ends with them on the ground and him slapping her bum to get the flames out! That would've been pretty funny to watch! It's no surprise that it started one of the funniest partnerships ever seen on Corrie.
Bill went through some very scary health scares with his heart, on one occasion being saved by a friend getting him medical help. Sadly that ill health finally caused the death of the actor. He was a great character and a lovely man from all accounts which is a good legacy to have.
The book covers his early life, trying to make ends meet to provide the money to marry Ali, who he felt was out of his league in every way. He gets involved in singing in clubs and makes a living from that and work as an extra on TV. It was during these appearances as an extra on Coronation Street-remember the man who once dropped the bar hatch on Ernie Bishop's hand?-that he was spotted and brought in as the husband of Vera Duckworth.
Bill goes into a lot of detail about his years on Corrie, including a year by year update about what was happening to the Duckworths. It was actually very sad to read about the filming of his and Vera's on screen deaths and the effects that it had on everyone involved. He talks about his protests to Brian Park for the spate of sackings he brought in. He was angry that Kevin Kennedy was sacked because the writers couldn't think up a story for his character Curly, which he thought was totally crazy when these people are paid to think up stories.
His on set stories are funny. He first appeared as Jack at Gail and Brian Tilsley's wedding, and Liz Dawn who plays Vera stood too close to a heater between takes and set her dress on fire. His first filming with Liz ends with them on the ground and him slapping her bum to get the flames out! That would've been pretty funny to watch! It's no surprise that it started one of the funniest partnerships ever seen on Corrie.
Bill went through some very scary health scares with his heart, on one occasion being saved by a friend getting him medical help. Sadly that ill health finally caused the death of the actor. He was a great character and a lovely man from all accounts which is a good legacy to have.
March 5, 2013
Now I know I've only given this one star (and I know I may go to hell for that, especially since Bill is no longer with us) but I simply didn't enjoy this book. This is not the fault of the author who wrote with a passion and enthusiasm from start to finish but a fault of my own since I am not a fan of soaps and was hoping for more of the background goings on rather than an episode description of who did what and when, this was very much a book about Jack Duckworth and not so much about Bill Tarmey. I'm not a fan of autobiographies generally anyway but when I do read them I want to know about the 'normal' person behind the name more than anything else. Having said that any fan of Coronation Street will go nuts over this book, it has all the episode gossip and shows the devotion that the soap's actors have and the lengths they will go to to make sure they don't let the fans down. As I've already said Tarmey's written in very engrossing and his passion for the role does come across very well, sadly it just wasn't a subject I could lose myself in.
February 12, 2017
A gem of a book. A book given to me by a mate - a mate who is well aware of how much I love Coronation Street. Yes, despite living in Japan I never miss an episode. (shhhh!) In fact I have barely missed an episode since the late eighties.
You have to be a Corrie fan to appreciate this though - it'd be almost incomprehensible to the untrained eye.
Bill Tarmey talks about the survival hardships and endurance of life in working class Manchester. He describes his career on the pub circuit as a singer and his work as a tv extra.
Then of course , he offers insight into a world of much loved characters on The Street. I grew up with the likes of Jack Duckworth on tv. These characters become a part of your life - an absolute must read for like minded fans.
You have to be a Corrie fan to appreciate this though - it'd be almost incomprehensible to the untrained eye.
Bill Tarmey talks about the survival hardships and endurance of life in working class Manchester. He describes his career on the pub circuit as a singer and his work as a tv extra.
Then of course , he offers insight into a world of much loved characters on The Street. I grew up with the likes of Jack Duckworth on tv. These characters become a part of your life - an absolute must read for like minded fans.
January 19, 2016
Wasn't sure about this book when I first started it having read previous reviews people had wrote, however, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, as I had previously read in reviews there was a lot written about his time on Coronation Street but wasn't there a clue in the title - Jack Duckworth and me??!!
I would definitely recommend this book as a really good read and I personally am really glad I read it.
I would definitely recommend this book as a really good read and I personally am really glad I read it.
October 25, 2019
What a delightful read. I've grown up, like many have, with Coronation Street. Bill Tarmey is a wonderful man and his book reflects this. He reminded me of charactors i'd forgotten about and certainly made me smile.
This would be a brilliant Christmas pressie for all Corrie fans, old and young..
This was my first ever Kindle read.
This would be a brilliant Christmas pressie for all Corrie fans, old and young..
This was my first ever Kindle read.
February 7, 2015
I absolutely loved the first part of the book, the rest was more like a chronological list of what was going on on the street with a few funny bits thrown in.
would have loved to know more about him as a person instead of how many episodes cast members had worked on. Also enjoyed the photos at the back, nice and clear on my tablet often only see half a picture.
would have loved to know more about him as a person instead of how many episodes cast members had worked on. Also enjoyed the photos at the back, nice and clear on my tablet often only see half a picture.
January 10, 2016
Thoroughly enjoyed this. Seems a likeable man in both real life and as Jack Duckworth!! Great to read about all the old Coronation Street plots I had forgotten about. Sad to come to the end of it.
December 27, 2010
Interesting read of life in Manchester and of life on the street.
August 14, 2014
it was fun finding out about bill and reminiscing about old coronation st stars and his adventures a very interesting and pleasent gentleman
June 11, 2016
Didnt enjoy this. I thought it would be more about Bill Tarmey but its mostly about Jack Duckworth and Coronation Street. Disappointing.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews