Peter Adamson
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| Peter Adamson | |
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| Born | Peter Adamson 16 February 1930 Liverpool, England |
| Died | January 17, 2002 (aged 71) Lincoln, England |
| Occupation | Television actor |
Peter Adamson was a British actor born in Liverpool. He is best known for playing 'rough diamond' Len Fairclough in Coronation Street from 1961 to 1983.
He died from stomach cancer in Lincoln County Hospital in 2002.
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[edit] Allegation
In April 1983, a Sunday newspaper reported that Adamson had been arrested for indecently assaulting two eight-year old girls in Haslingden swimming pool. The police complaint was that Adamson's hands had strayed while giving the girls swimming lessons.
He was represented by the barrister George Carman QC. A Crown Court jury found him not guilty in July 1983 but five years later he confessed his guilt in a front page exclusive in The Sun.
[edit] Sacking
Adamson was sacked from Coronation Street for breach of contract. He had previously been warned for writing unauthorized newspaper articles criticising the show and cast, but Granada Television decided to financially support him through his legal problems. However, producer Bill Podmore sacked him, once it was revealed he had sold his memoirs after the previous warning.
Len Fairclough was killed off-screen in a motorway crash in December 1983. To demonise the character, it was revealed that he had been returning home from an affair, cheating on wife Rita (Barbara Knox).
Adamson celebrated the character's death by delivering an obituary on TV-am dressed as an undertaker.
[edit] Wrexham AFC
Several retrospective reports in the Flintshire and Wrexham Evening Leaders suggest that Adamson supported Wrexham AFC as he celebrated an FA Cup third round win in 1974 against Southampton F.C. in the player's dressing room with the players and often attended events at The Racecourse.
[edit] References
- Podmore, Bill (with Peter Reece) (1990) Coronation Street: The Inside Story London: Macdonald. ISBN 0-356-17971-0
