Dave Dutton is a man who has appeared in Coronation Street in 11, yes 11 different roles. You can find out more about him here.
And now Dave has written his autobiography called The Thirty Bob Kid. So it's over to Dave to tell you all about his new book.
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I started to write my autobiography quite a few years ago after swapping a few funny anecdotes with an old workmate.
I didn’t realise what I was taking on. When it was published at the weekend it ran to 96,500 words and 326 pages.
No wonder it took so long. I’d leave it for months at a time then come back to it. I’m pleased with the end result though and early reports are that people are really enjoying it.
I come from a Corrie type background. Cobbled street. Terraced house. Outside lavatory. Swinging round the gas lamp at the street corner. All that. As I say in the book, our street was full of archetypal Corrie characters.
It’s called The Thirty Bob Kid because that’s what the midwife charged to deliver me as it was the year before the NHS.
My Mam features heavily. She was a hell of a character, proud of her Lancashire heritage but extremely superstitious. There’s a full chapter on her superstitions. Quite a few spooky happenings too. She came back as a ghost at my son’s wedding and also foresaw the future in a crystal ball. She was an Elsie Tanner type too. Not brassy but wasn’t averse to having a row in the street if she perceived any unfairness towards me by some neighbour.
She worked on The Suicide Squad at Risley Royal Ordnance Factory in the war and that’s where she met my dad - a Southerner who was in charge of the group. They fell in love despite a big age gap and I was the result. They never married. He was already married, wanted to marry my Mam but she refused. I finally met up with my sister - his daughter - when I was nearly 40.
When I found out at school I was illegitimate, it sent me off the rails and I ended up in a police cell which gave me a short sharp shock and turned my life round. I was only nine at the time.
There’s too much to relate here but the book covers my crazy life in local papers; my comedy writing career - especially as Ken Dodd’s chief writer (we had our problems); how I started as an extra in Corrie which led on to speaking parts and bigger roles which was a dream come true. I talk about my many experiences in The Street over the years as well as other soaps such as Emmerdale and Brookside.
I write about how I transitioned from someone quite shy and with a lack of confidence to someone appearing in a show watched by millions - including the Queen!
There’s a lot of funny stuff in the book as well as sad stuff like my Mam’s sad decline into dementia. I like to think it has a motivational message too: if a kid from a cobbled street can make it onto the most famous cobbles in the world, then anyone can make something of their lives, whatever they choose to do.
I watched Corrie from the start and used to ogle through a gap in the door at the original set with my mates.
There’s so much in the book I haven’t room to include it all here but what I’d like to add is this. I hope sometime I can add another chapter to my Corrie career. Or is that just being greedy? I love doing it. The secret of its longevity? It’s probably in Bill Roache’s new book. I’m off to buy it.
You can download or buy The Thirty Bob Kid on Amazon or read more about it here: https://www.dave-dutton.co.uk/thirty-bob-kid
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