With thanks to our friends at Fantom Publishing for alerting us to this little gem.
Next month sees the release of Fantom Publishing’s new autobiography from the actor Ken Farrington, entitled Hush My Mouth.
Ken played Billy Walker in Coronation Street and his book will be launched at TV Utopia on 3rd February 2018. You can enter our competition to win a ticket to TV Utopia here.
Whilst Ken Farrington has achieved lasting recognition through his roles in three iconic British TV soaps – Coronation Street, Family Affairs and Emmerdale – his sixty-year career has encompassed a great deal more and taken him from the classical stage to the cinema screen, from Shakespeare to Shaw and from Pinter to panto.
“I was inspired to pen my autobiography when I found myself with time on my hands in semi retirement in France and I decided to try writing” explains Ken. “First of all I started to write ideas for TV series and then decided to do the family history which then developed in to stories of my career. I would like people to come away with a more accurate picture of what it is like to be an actor and perhaps inspire would be actors to learn the craft and not just seek to be a celebrity.”
The son of a builder and decorator from Peckham, Ken struggled to keep out of trouble at school until he had the great good fortune to meet the English teacher who was to change his life. Michael Croft, the legendary founder of the National Youth Theatre, ignited a passion for acting in young Ken who never looked back.
Within a year of leaving RADA in 1959 he landed the part of Billy Walker, wayward son of Rovers Return landlady Annie Walker, in Granada TV’s groundbreaking new ‘soap’ Coronation Street. Originally contracted for six months, Ken would find himself returning to the Street off and on for the next 25 years. Meanwhile he continued acting on stage and screen with the likes of Anthony Hopkins, James Caan and Michael Gambon; his long list of TV guest appearances includes The Avengers, The Saint, The Tomorrow People and Danger UXB. For three years he played ruthless businessman Tom King in Emmerdale, his dramatic exit from the series on Christmas Day 2006 being one of the most talked-about in the show’s history.
Hush My Mouth is the autobiography of a man with a reputation for plain speaking, and deals frankly with Ken’s occasionally volatile relationships with his co-stars, his clashes with producers and ‘money men’, and his own personal demons.
Released in hardback priced £19.99 the book will be launched at TV Utopia on 3rd February and signed copies will be available to purchase ahead of its trade release in March.
Order your copy today.
Please read our advice for leaving comments on the Coronation Street Blog
All original work on Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License
1 comment:
Thanks for this, I didn't know he, Ken had written a book.
Billy Walker was one of my favourites from the seventies ('round the time of his and Deidre's affair.
I love knowing that many of the earlier characters had such a wide variety of experience.
They/he gave their characters some depth and you either loved or hated them.
Post a Comment