ITV is commemorating the life and career of William Roache with a special programme tonight.
Happy Birthday Bill will tell the story of the soap star's legendary career in showbiz as he prepares to celebrate his 90th birthday later this month. William has played Ken Barlow on Coronation Street since the very first episode of the ITV show in 1960.
He has been a mainstay on the Cobbles ever since and holds the Guinness World Record for the longest serving television star in a continuous role. William will be reunited with his first on screen wife, Anne Reid, on the special programme - and opens up on the secrets to his long career.
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He said: "I suppose I always feel like I'm learning. You know, people ask me if the younger ones ask me for advice and I say no, they're all so good and confident that I feel I should ask them.
"I always feel I'm still growing up. I never feel grown up in life anyway. And then I've always got things to learn. Working with people like Chris Gascoyne and so many other members of the cast is so good. It's such a privilege."
The show will also explore William's life off screen with his family and his life before the cobbles, with him returning to the army barracks where he did his basic training as part of the programme.
William's life away from the screen has regularly hit the headlines as he once claimed he slept with over 1,000 women. He married TV actress, Anne Cropper, in 1961 when he was 29 years old - and the couple shared two children together named Linus and Vanya before they divorced in 1974.
William married his second wife, Sara Mottram, in 1978 and the two had three children together named Verity, Edwina and James. William has passed on the acting bug to his children as both Linus and James have forged successful acting careers.
Linus is his eldest son and first appeared on screen aged 9 years old as William's on screen child, Peter Barlow. He made his return to the Cobbles in 2010 as Lawrence Cunningham in 2010 - and has continued his successful career into adulthood.
Linus has successfully made the transition to US television and on hit shows such as Homeland, Vikings and Law & Order. He has also forged a film career and appeared in a prominent role as Thomas Wayne in the 2005 Hollywood blockbuster, Batman Begins.
James has also built up a successful acting career and appeared in Coronation Street and Rise of The Foot Solider. He also played his father in The Road To Coronation Street, which was a dramatization on creation of the the hit ITV show.
Happy Birthday Bill airs on ITV and ITV Hub on April 19 at 8pm
Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm on ITV and ITV Hub
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