Who out of Coronation Street has died? The Street has lost one of its very first faces
Coronation Street has said goodbye to several of its own in 2026, but one loss cuts closest to the show's beginnings. This one goes all the way back to episode one, 9 December 1960.
Alan Rothwell, who played David Barlow in the original cast, died on 14 May 2026, aged 89. His family said he passed away peacefully in hospital following a short illness, and noted a career spanning more than 70 years across radio, television, film, and stage. The show paid its own tribute:
"He created an iconic and memorable character in David Barlow," a Coronation Street spokesperson said in May 2026.
Who was David Barlow?
Ken Barlow's younger brother — a footballer who swapped the cobbles for the corner shop, married Irma Ogden, and appeared from the very first episode in 1960 until 1968, when the couple emigrated to Australia. The character was killed off in an off-screen car crash in 1970.
Tony Warren wrote the part with Rothwell in mind, which puts him in rare company: an original face, playing a role built for him.
Rothwell kept working for decades afterwards — Nicholas Black in Brookside in the mid-1980s, ITV spy drama Top Secret in the early 1960s, and, much later, a part in 2013's Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa.
The other losses
Rothwell's death isn't the only one the Street has absorbed recently:
- Philip Lowrie — Dennis Tanner in the very first episode, the show's original bad boy, died in 2025 aged 88.
- Paul Seed — Father Harris between 1979 and 1981, died in March 2026 aged 78.
- Kay Patrick — not an on-screen face but a defining one behind the camera; she directed more than 250 episodes over 21 years and died in June 2026, aged 84.
Who's left from 1960?
Two. Rothwell had been one of the last three surviving regular original cast members; his death leaves only William Roache — still playing Ken Barlow, 65 years in — and Anne Cunningham, who played Linda Cheveski.