Colin Philip Lowrie (born 20 June 1936) is an English former stage and television actor, best known for playing Dennis Tanner in the long-running ITV soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Orig ...

'', from the programme's inception in 1960–1968, and again from 2011 to 2014.

Early life

Born in

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

, Lowrie was the son of Philip Lowrie, a foreman in a paper mill, and Bertha Lowrie (née Collins). Lowrie had a stammer so attended elocution lessons at Miss Atherton's Elocution. When he left secondary school, his mother managed to save enough money to pay his fees at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

in London, where he studied for three years.

Career

At the age of 24, Lowrie appeared in the opening episode of the new

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was its ...

drama serial ''

'' as Dennis Tanner, the son of

Elsie Tanner Elsie Gregory (also Grimshaw, Howard and Tanner) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Pat Phoenix from the series' inception in 1960 to 1973, and again from 1976 until 1984. Elsie Tanner was ...

(

Pat Phoenix Patricia Phoenix Booth (born Patricia Frederica Manfield; 26 November 1923 – 17 September 1986) was an English actress who became one of the first sex symbols of British television through her role as Elsie Tanner, an original cast member ...

) and sister of

Linda Cheveski ''Coronation Street'' is a British television soap opera , soap opera/serial, initially produced by Granada Television. Created by screenwriter Tony Warren, ''Coronation Street'' first broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV on 9 December 1960. The ...

(

Anne Cunningham Anne Margaret Cunningham (born 1937) is an English actress, best known for her role as an original cast member of ''Coronation Street'', in which she played Linda Cheveski, daughter of Elsie Tanner ( Pat Phoenix). Early life Cunningham, an ...

). Lowrie remained with the show as a regular character until 1968. During this period, he recorded a pop single, "I Might Have Known", which was issued by

Ember An ember, also called a hot coal, is a hot lump of smouldering solid fuel, typically glowing, composed of greatly heated wood, coal, or other carbon-based material. Embers (hot coals) can exist within, remain after, or sometimes preced ...

in September 1963. Despite being recorded at the prestigious

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music ...

and produced by John Barry, the record was not a hit. Lowrie later did the voiceover and auditions for the popular

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

quiz show '' Fifteen to One''. He was a regular performer on comedian

Victoria Wood Victoria Wood (19 May 1953 – 20 April 2016) was an English comedian, actress, lyricist, singer, composer, pianist, screenwriter, producer and director. Wood wrote and starred in dozens of sketches, plays, musicals, films and sitcoms over se ...

's television shows, appearing in her programmes ''

Victoria Wood's All Day Breakfast ''Victoria Wood's All Day Breakfast'' is a 50-minute television comedy special, written by and starring comedian Victoria Wood. It was broadcast on BBC One on Christmas Day 1992. The show was largely a parody of British daytime TV. The sketche ...

'', ''

'', ''The Mall'', '' Pat and Margaret'', ''Live In Your Own Room'', ''We'd Like To Apologise'', ''

As Seen On TV As seen on TV is a generic nameplate for products advertised on television in the United States for direct-response mail-order through a toll-free telephone number. ''As Seen on TV'' advertisements, known as infomercials, are usually 30-minute sho ...

'' and '' Wood and Walters''. His other television appearances have included ''

Andy Capp ''Andy Capp'' is a British comic strip created by cartoonist Reg Smythe, seen in the ''Daily Mirror'' and the ''Sunday Mirror'' newspapers since 5 August 1957. Originally a single-panel cartoon, it was later expanded to four panels. The s ...

'' (1988), ''

Crown Court The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some either way offences and appeals lied to it by the magistrates' courts. It is one of three Senior Courts of England and W ...

'' (1975), ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...

'' (1972), '' East Lynne'' (1976), ''

The Cuckoo Waltz ''The Cuckoo Waltz'' is a British television sitcom produced by Granada Television for the ITV network between 1975 and 1980. It was written by Geoffrey Lancashire, and produced and directed by Bill Gilmour. The series, which was set in 1970 ...

'' (1977), ''

The Liver Birds ''The Liver Birds'' is a British sitcom, set in Liverpool, North West England, which aired on BBC1 from April 1969 to January 1979, and again in 1996. The show was created by Carla Lane and Myra Taylor. The two Liverpudlian housewives had met ...

'' (1978), ''

Galloping Galaxies ''Galloping Galaxies!'' is a British children's television comedy series set on a spaceship that was shown on the BBC from 1 October 1985 to 18 December 1986, comprising two series, of ten episodes in total. It was created and written by Bob Bl ...

'' (1986), ''Rules of Engagement'' (1989) and '' Doctors'' (2005). In September 2011, Lowrie was presented with a certificate by the ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' for being the person with the longest gap between television appearances in the same show, having returned to ''Coronation Street'' as Dennis Tanner earlier that year. He made his final on-screen appearance as the character in July 2014. Lowrie subsequently played Mr Larkin in the ITV series '' Home Fires'' in 2015. He also has many West End and stage lead roles on his CV, such as Major Metcalf in ''

The Mousetrap ''The Mousetrap'' is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. ''The Mousetrap'' opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-1 ...

'' (2004), Klever in ''The Case of The Frightened Lady'' (2018) and Eric in ''The Lady Vanishes'' (2019).

References

External links

* 1936 births Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Living people People from Ashton-under-Lyne English male soap opera actors English gay actors {{UK-actor-stub