Coronation Street's Bill Roache celebrates 90th birthday

Coronation Street legend William Roache celebrates his 90th birthday today.

To mark the impressive milestone, his family have released new portraits of the long-running soap actor taken by his son Will.

The relaxed portraits capture the man off screen – a relaxed, happy family man at his home in Cheshire.

ITV celebrated the actor's incredible birthday with a recent documentary titled Happy Birthday Bill, to give soap viewers an insight into the man behind the character Ken Barlow.

Talking about the new portraits of his dad, Will said: "We had a lot of fun taking these shots.

from itvstrict embargo 0001hrs monday april 25th 2022coronation street willaim roache’s family release new portraits to mark his 90th birthdayas coronation street legend william roache turns 90 today april 25th his family have marked the occasion with these stunning new portraits taken by william’s son willtaken at the family home in cheshire the photographs capture bill smiling and relaxed, a world away from his coronation street alter ego ken barlowin the recent documentary to mark bill’s milestone birthday, viewers saw the man behind the world’s longest running soap star enjoying the company of will and daughter verityit was this side of his father that will wanted to capture in the photoswill said “we had a lot of fun taking these shots i think just having the family there made my father feel more relaxed which enabled me to capture his true vivacious personality and vibrant essence the part of him that we are lucky enough to see everyday, but is rarely seen publicly”bill enjoyed the experience too and is delighted with the new shots he said “will is really talented, he studied photography when he was younger so he has a lot of technical knowledge but for me it was about how relaxed we all felt will set everything up in the conservatory and we were all just chatting and laughing and he knew just when to capture the moment i can honestly say those are the best photographs i've ever had taken”the two previously unseen photographs were part of a set of new images for the re release of an updated version of william’s book life and soul, his inspiring guide, sharing his philosophy, practical tips, and life lessons for leading a happy, healthy life bill added “they wanted some up to date photographs for the new version of the book and it was lovely for will to be able to take them, it was exactly what they wantedbill explained that four years after releasing the book he felt the time was right to update ithe explained “well, of course it was my children who first got me to write it four years ago it felt like the right time to update it as i am turning 90 and also after the past two years and how they have affected everyone differently “so talk a bit about how the pandemic affected me but also we're always changing you know, it's funny how you can read a line in the book that was really meaningful to you and you come back and you read that same line about two years later and it means something even more what that means is you are opening up your awareness and you are evolving as a human being i just wrote the new elements as best i could, reflecting some of the differences that have occurred in the last four years”press contact rachelnewtonitvcomfrancescaevansitvcompictures davidcrookitccom© 2022 copyright will roache photography ltd all rights reserved

ITV/Will Roache Photography Ltd.

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"I think just having the family there made my father feel more relaxed which enabled me to capture his true vivacious personality and vibrant essence; the part of him that we are lucky enough to see every day, but is rarely seen publicly."

Bill is also delighted with the new portraits of himself, he added: "Will is really talented, he studied photography when he was younger so he has a lot of technical knowledge but for me it was about how relaxed we all felt.

"Will set everything up in the conservatory and we were all just chatting and laughing and he knew just when to capture the moment. I can honestly say those are the best photographs I've ever had taken."

The previously unseen images were included in the re-release of Bill’s inspiring autobiography Life and Soul, which reflected on his lessons and tips for a long, happy and healthy life.

ITV/Will Roache Photography Ltd.

The soap actor decided to revisit his book four years after it was released to reflect on how the pandemic had affected him.

He explained: "It was my children who first got me to write it four years ago. It felt like the right time to update it as I am turning 90 and also after the past two years and how they have affected everyone differently.

"So talk a bit about how the pandemic affected me. But also we're always changing.

"You know, it's funny how you can read a line in the book that was really meaningful to you and you come back and you read that same line about two years later and it means something even more.

"What that means is you are opening up your awareness and you are evolving as a human being. I just wrote the new elements as best I could, reflecting some of the differences that have occurred in the last four years."

Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV and streams on the ITV Hub.