Frank Pemberton (14 September 1914 – 26 March 1971) was an English stage and television actor, who after appearing in numerous series and telemovie's, got his big break, when he became best known as an original cast member of TV series '' Coronation Street'' as patriarch Frank Barlow.

Biography

Pemberton was born in

Stretford Stretford is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal, south of Manchester city centre, south of Salford and north-east of Altrincham. Stre ...

, Lancashire, England in September 1914. He initially studied engineering at the Birmingham Technical College and afterwards joined his father's business as a sales rep. Amateur dramatics in his then home town of Marston Green led him into the theatre and a season with the Southampton Repertory Company. At the outbreak of war, Pemberton was directed into an engineering position, in his spare time teaming up with Mervyn R Pinfield and others to stage plays for the forces. He was later posted to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

where he managed to find time to tour most of the Scottish bases with a Naval theatre company. Demobilisation was followed by the next step to a professional acting career with the formation in 1946 of the performance company “The Star Players”, in partnership with Ernest Pickering and Mervyn R Pinfield (as general manager). Having played a six-week season at Birkenhead YMCA the move was made to Falkirk to join the Falkirk Repertory Company in an arrangement with Aurora Productions Limited. The end of October saw Aurora Production's last performance in Falkirk and a move to The Little Theatre, Great Yarmouth, with Mervyn R Pinfield again general manager. In April 1948 both he and Mervyn R Pinfield left Aurora Productions to join the Morecambe Repertory Theatre Ltd, at the

Royalty Theatre The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938.

. By 1949, he was touring with the Lawrence Williamson Players, and after that joined the Charles Denville Repertory Players on Guernsey. By April 1957, Frank Pemberton was working on TV with the BBC and ITV. By 1960 he had made more than 100 TV performances and had made the step to ''Coronation Street'' as Frank Barlow. Following his departure from ''Coronation Street'' in May 1964, he and other ex-members of the cast joined John Finch and

Vince Powell Vincent Joseph Powell (6 August 1928 – 13 July 2009) was a British television scriptwriter. He collaborated with a writing partner, Harry Driver, until 1973. Early life Powell was born as Vincent Joseph Smith to Roman Catholic parents in Mi ...

's production of the farce “Firm Foundations” at the

Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

, Liverpool.

Illness and death

Pemberton suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop funct ...

on 24 February 1965“Actor Ill”, ''Birmingham Post'', 25/02/1965, Page 1, BNA from which he recovered but which severely compromised his acting career. He died prematurely aged 56, in

Copthorne, West Sussex Copthorne is a village in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. It lies close to Gatwick Airport, south of London, north of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Nearby towns include Crawley to the southwest an ...

of a fatal stroke on 26 March 1971, approximately six weeks after his last appearance as Frank Barlow.

Filmography (selected)

Principal role

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pemberton, Frank 1914 births 1971 deaths People from Stretford Male actors from Manchester English male stage actors English male soap opera actors 20th-century English male actors Royal Navy personnel of World War II