The faces of Corrie in 1960

If you remember, last year I had a series of posts looking at the top 12 faces of each Corrie decade - the 1960s, the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s and the 2000s. For the next 10 weeks or so, I’ll be looking at the top 12 faces of each year between 1960 and 2013.

With thanks to Corriepedia for the information.

In 1960, 7 episodes were broadcast.

1.    Linda Cheveski (7 episodes)
2.    Ena Sharples (7 episodes)
3.    Elsie Tanner (7 episodes)
4.    Annie Walker (7 episodes)
5.    Christine Hardman (6 episodes)
6.    Esther Hayes (6 episodes)
7.    Martha Longhurst (6 episodes)
8.    Dennis Tanner (6 episodes)
9.    Ivan Cheveski (5 episodes)
10.    Harry Hewitt (5 episodes)
11.    Jack Walker (5 episodes)
12.    Minnie Caldwell (4 episodes)

Due to lack of space, Leonard Swindley fails to make the top 12, but he also appeared for 4 episodes.

Average age: 41

Note: This is the only time Linda, Ivan (to date), Christine and Esther appear in the top 12.

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Corrie originals - Ernst Walder as Ivan Cheveski

First appeared: 14th December 1960

Last appeared: 27th December 1967

Ernst Walder played the role of Linda Cheveski’s Polish husband Ivan between 1960 and 1961 and made guest appearances in 1962, 1963, 1966 and 1967.

Born in Salzburg in 1927, Walder moved to the UK in 1952, working as a domestic servant. In his spare time, he attended drama school and in 1958 he made his TV debut in The Safecracker, playing a Nazi officer. In 1960, he was cast as 24 year old Ivan Cheveski in new drama serial Coronation Street, the husband of Linda and son-in-law of the street siren Elsie Tanner and debuted in the second episode. As he wasn’t a permanent character, Ivan lacked storylines and his only plotlines were moving into No. 9 and the birth of son Paul in 1961, the first Corrie baby. Ivan wasn’t a regular character due to his job in Warrington and then the Cheveskis immigrated to Canada. Ivan and Linda made flying visits to Weatherfield during the 1960s, spending Christmas in 1962 and 1966. By 1966, the Cheveskis had a marriage crisis due to Linda’s affair with a Canadian and they did spend some time apart before toddler Paul falling into the canal and being saved by bookie Dave Smith reunited them. The Cheveskis later settled down in Birmingham where Ivan had been offered a job. They attended Elsie’s wedding to Steve Tanner in 1967 and visited over Christmas that year. Although Linda briefly returned to the street in 1968 and 1984, Ivan didn’t appear in the show again. Apparently, they had separated and were in the process of a divorce. In 50 Years of Coronation Street: The (Very) Unofficial Story by Sean Egan that was published in 2010, Walder claims that he wasn’t even asked to reprise his role of Ivan. Overall, Walder appeared in 76 episodes.

Although Walder succeeded in gaining other roles, they were only supporting ones. He had roles in Redcap (1965-1966), Crown Court (1974) and The Fourth Arm (1983). His last TV appearance was 22 years ago in Night of the Fox.

Little is known about Walder’s current whereabouts and his personal life. Do you have any information?

Have you seen or met Ernst Walder? Have you any trivia about him?

Research from Corrie Net, IMDB, Corriepedia and 50 Years of Coronation Street: The (Very) Unofficial Story by Sean Egan.

Read about all of the Coronation Street original cast.

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