Salford-born Coronation Street creator Tony Warren MBE passed away last night after a short illness, ITV have confirmed.
Warren had only recently been handed a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work.
The 79-year-old was born Anthony McVay Simpson at Wilton Avenue in Pendlebury, and adopted Warren as a stage name in his early acting career as a successful child star.
He created the Weatherfield soap at the tender age of just 24 but remained a consultant on the show until weeks before his death.
In 1960 Tony’s initial scripts for Coronation Street were commissioned by Granada Television for the ITV network and he went on to write the first 13 episodes of the programme.
“Tony was a regular visitor to the soap’s set and loved nothing more than to catch up with the cast and crew during breaks in filming whilst offering the actors insightful feedback about their characters and storylines,” said John Whiston, Creative Director of Soaps for ITV Studios
He died on Tuesday evening surrounded by friends.
Tributes from across the media have started to flood in.
Bill Roache MBE, who worked with Tony since Coronation Street’s first episode aired on 9 December 1960, said: “When I first met Tony I couldn’t quite believe he’d created and written Coronation Street because he was no more than a young boy.
“It was his boyish energy even recently when I saw him again that I’ll remember. I loved Tony’s energy.
“He was the father of Coronation Street and he gave us all so much. He will be so desperately missed because of who he was and what he did. We owe him so much.”
Coronation Street became an instant success with Tony continuing to write scripts for Granada Television full-time until 1968.
Tony Warren on the Coronation Street set in 1985
In a tribute John Whiston said: “Amid the many and much deserved tributes to Tony Warren, surely there can be no greater tribute than that the show he created 56 years ago is still the number one show on British TV.
“Tony infused Coronation Street with his own spirit, one that was at the same time dramatic and credible, exciting and grounded, funny and humane.
“It is Tony’s spirit that has kept the show fresh and relevant all these years and will do for years to come. All who are lucky enough to work on the show owe Tony a huge amount of gratitude. As do all the millions who tune into Coronation Street week after week.”
Coronation Street’s Executive Producer Kieran Roberts has spent nearly 15 years working alongside Tony and paid tribute to the “true genius” he possessed.
“Tony Warren the writer was a pioneer, a revolutionary, a giant of British television.
“He will rightly be remembered around the world as the creator of Coronation Street but those of us lucky enough to have worked on his wonderful show and to have known him will also remember the man: the razor-sharp intelligence; the brilliant, often mischievous sense of humour, the courage and conviction, the passion for people, the immense generosity of spirit and capacity for love.”
Tony trained at the Elliott Clarke Theatre School in Liverpool and became a regular on Children’s Hour on BBC Radio.
He also acted in many radio plays and fortuitously performed with the actors who were later to become household names in Coronation Street, most notably Violet Carson and Doris Speed.
