Coronation Street Roy Cropper star’s David Neilson’s life – Spanish home and rarely-seen wife

Coronation Street star David Neilson’s life has almost been as eventful as his character Roy Cropper’s.

Poor Roy has found himself under a cloud of suspicion for the murder of Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton), whose mysterious disappearance has kept viewers guessing. Ever since mild-mannered Roy was arrested a few weeks back, his loyal pals have been fighting against the shocking allegations, finding themselves pitted against a frenzy of social media speculation and, of course, DS Swain’s (Vicky Myers) distrustful eye.

Now the tale is about to take another dark turn – with innocent Roy set to face charges for Lauren’s murder. The eccentric yet extraordinarily compassionate café owner has weathered a number of trials during his time on the street, but with Corrie bosses teasing a heartbreaking exit, fans fear this may be the end of the road for a true soap legend.

As Roy’s future hangs in the balance, the Mirror looks at actor David’s life beyond the Roy’s Rolls counter, including his marriage to a wife who has helped influence his most famous character…

Loughborough-born David trained as an actor at the prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama. While making a name for himself, the now 75-year-old worked a number of different jobs, including as a gas fitter, plumber, ice cream salesman, and barman.

Before landing a part in Corrie, David also enjoyed a number of impressive theatre jobs, including writing and directing plays and teaching drama at Rose Bruford. He also appeared in two Mike Leigh films – Life Is Sweet and Secrets and Lies.

In 1995, David bagged the role of Roy, which quickly made him a household name – despite only being signed up for six episodes. Indeed, far from the gentle character fans know and love today, Roy was initially written into the soap temporarily as a frightening nuisance, whose concern for Deirdre Barlow (Anne Kirkbride) came across as more creepy than caring.

Thespian David made the part his own, however, playing Roy’s social awkwardness with empathy, not menace – and the character ended up sticking around far longer than expected. Bumbling Roy has since been at the heart of some of the soap’s most affecting storylines, all while affording David the stable career he’d longed for.

Opening up about how Roy had changed his life during an interview with the Warrington Guardian, David shared: “When bills arrive I don’t panic and when I’m in the supermarket I don’t have anxiety about what I put in the basket. I think that’s the best bit actually. I was 46 when I went into the show and I had my friends and life sorted so it offered me a bit of ease. But building a character over two decades has been fascinating.”

Roy and wife Hayley were one of the most iconic Coronation Street couples of all time – and there wasn’t a dry eye in the UK when Hayley made the decision to die on her own terms following her terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis.

Away from the cobbles, David has been married to wife Jane Neilson for more than 50 years, and she has played a huge part in helping shape Roy into a far more interesting, complicated character. Speaking with the Mirror in 2009, David revealed how he’d secretly made Roy autistic, crediting special needs teacher Jane for her expertise.

David explained: “Roy was a psychopath. He was stalking Deirdre and was a bit scary. It’s nice to play psychos but they don’t stay around too long.

“My wife is a special needs teacher and she worked with people with autism. She said Roy could have Asperger’s syndrome, making him socially inept, rather than menacing. Nobody really knew what Asperger’s was back in 1995, so it’s my wife I owe it to.

“It’s never mentioned in the story though and it shouldn’t be – Roy is a human being, and a label doesn’t help him. But I think he’s got it. It gives him reasons for his behaviour and gives me something to play. I enjoy idiosyncrasies in people and Roy is full of them.”

David and Jane have an adult son, Daniel, and are now proud grandparents to two young granddaughters.

Escape to Spain