Len Fairclough was a major character in Coronation Street until his death in 1983. Though he was for the most part an honest and well-intentioned man, He also had a very nasty temper and could be quite apathetic with these flaws creating several problems for himself and his loved ones.
He was played by Peter Adams.
Biography[]
Prior to the show Len had largely ignored his wife Nellie and son Stanley in favour of drinking at the rovers, finding Nellie to be a nag and wanting to avoid her at all costs. He believed it was a wife's duty to keep the house clean. Though Len later felt guilt for this attitude, Stanley would never forgive him and held a grudge against his father even after Nellie's death.
In 1962 Len got into a brawl with left-wing student Ken Barlow after Ken had wrote an article criticizing working class culture and called Len a beer swelling moron when he'd threatened Ken over the article's contents. The two were not enemies for long however with Len even playing a role in saving Ken's job a few years later when he was imprisoned for a week for protesting the Vietnam war.
Len had a complicated on & off romance with Elsie Tanner who he'd been friends with since childhood. Len would often show his more compassionate side with her such as when he comforted her after her grandson fell though she became displeased with him when she discovered he's used his influence as a politician to block a proposal to fence off the canal which likely would have prevented the incident.
In 1967 Stanley returned to the are and began working for his father, taking advantage of Len's guilt over his poor parenting to bully him without fear of retaliation. After an accident, Len nearly died saving Stanley from a fire and Stanley left immediately. Though Stanley did show some remorse over what had happened, nothing ended up changing.
Over the years Len became good friends with Ray Langton who he ran the builder's yard with though Len did once punch Ray for treating Elsie badly when she was his landlady.
When Elsie married Steve Tanner, Len had an obvious dislike of him but tried to conceal it for the sake of her happiness and wished them well, Unfortunately this dislike led to Len being a suspect after Steve was murdered straining their relationship for a time.
Len dated Janet Reid who he deeply loved, hoping to one day they have children so he could atone for the way he'd treated Stanley growing up. After Janet dumped him shortly after a discussion with Elsie, Len misunderstood and thought Elsie had sabotaged the realtionship, reacting with such anger that he phyically struck Elsie. He did at least feel shame for it, especially after Jack Walker revealed to him that Elsie had given Len money through him to help him out. Len then missed all his council meetings to repay Elsie which eventually made her forgive him.
Len dated Rita Bates and tried to make her abusive husband stay away but Rita chose to stay with him anyway. Eventually Len and Rita got back together though he put ambition over love after she got into a fight as he broke things off after she got into a fight to try to win the election to be mayor against his old friend Alf Roberts. Alf won anyway but Len didn't let it affect their friendship, even agreeing to be his deputy. He got with and broke up with Rita again when she accepted his proposal but he wouldn't commit to a date for their wedding.
Len began having sex with Bet Lynch but she felt used after it became clear he was only after something casual while she wanted something deeper which led to a break-up. Despite this, Bet stood up for Len when he was imprisoned for the murder of one of his constituents and fought for his freedom with Len being hurt Rita didn't do the same. It was sorted out when the woman's husband confessed to the murder.
In 1977 Len married Rita and the two would stay together for the rest of Len's life.
In 1982 the two fostered a woman named Sharon Gaskell who they came to see as being as good as a daughter to them.
In 1983 Len died, having been away in Bolton following a crash. Rita discovered after this that Len had been having an affair but chose to not let this tarnish her memories of him, still thinking of him as someone who was a good man overall.