Peter Adamson (actor)

Peter Adamson
Born	Peter George Adamson (1930-02-16)16 February 1930 Liverpool,England
Died	17 January 2002(2002-01-17)(aged 71) Lincoln, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1956–1989
Spouse	Jean Duncan ​ ​ (m.1953; died 1984)​
Children	2

Peter George Adamson(16 February 1930 – 17 January 2002) was an English actor, best known for playingLen FaircloughinCoronation Streetfrom January 1961 to May 1983.

Early life

Peter George Adamsonwas born on 16 February 1930 at 54 Hannan Road inKensington, Liverpool,the youngest of six children. His father was a manager of a menswear shop. Adamson was evacuated to Wales with his older brother whenWorld War IIbroke out.He left school at the age of 14 and took an office job in a solicitor's firm, before trying for a career as a commercial artist.

Career

Early career andCoronation Street

After taking part in a community play at the age of 17, Adamson moved to London and attendedLAMDA,but left after two months. He returned to theNorth West,working for several years in repertory theatre, where he met his wife Jean. He set up his own rep theatre company, producing and performing in plays and summer shows atWeston-super-Mare.He appeared in London'sWest End,and first appeared on television in 1956 in a variety show. He then gained roles in television dramas such asGranada Television'sSkyportandKnight Errant Limitedbefore being cast asLen Faircloughin Granada's fledgling soap operaCoronation Street.His character first appeared on screen in January 1961.

In September 1970, Adamson took two months away fromCoronation Streetto play Mr Fenn in theEmlyn WilliamsplaySomeone's Waiting.He was inNew Zealandfrom November to December 1972, playing Gus inHarold Pinter's playThe Dumb Waiter.In 1973, he appeared in the playNightfall.

In December 1981, he was celebrated in an episode ofThis Is Your Life,when he was surprised byEamonn Andrewsin London's Leicester Square.

First suspension

Off screen, Adamson gained a reputation as a hell-raiser, admitting he had a drink problem and had become involved in pub brawls. On 7 November 1966, he was fined £30 and banned from driving for a year after being arrested for drunk driving.

He stopped drinking alcohol in July 1969 after being suspended from the show unpaid, and spent several weeks in Rossendale General Hospital in theRossendale Valley,drying out.Adamson was missing from episodes 921 to 935. After discharge, he attendedAlcoholics Anonymousand remained sober for 15 years but started consuming alcohol again after his wife's death.

1983

In February 1983, Adamson sold behind-the-scenes stories about his co-stars toThe Sunnewspaper journalist Dan Slater, calling some Street actors "amateurs".The articles were branded "Len Lets Rip". He saidAnne Kirkbridewas "Propping too much time up at the bar"and "I wish she would leave the street, although I would miss her terribly. But for her own good she should go because she's been here for far too long. She's a great actress loaded with talent but plays the part of a dull housewife. I call her a lazy moo". Adamson said off screen he didn't get on at all withBarbara Knox,who played his screen wifeRita Fairclough.Adamson added that Doris Speed was a great actress but was going deaf andCheryl Murraywho played Suzy Birchall "Was too full of herself for my liking.

He was given a warning byBill Podmoreand management at Granada that he would be dismissed for breach of contract if it ever happened again. Adamson was told he would be suspended from the programme for six weeks without pay in April 1983. The suspension was going to take place in June and July 1983.

Allegations

On 24 April 1983, a Sunday newspaper reported Adamson had been arrested the previous day on suspicion of two incidents ofindecent assaulton two eight-year-old girls at a public swimming pool inHaslingdenwhere he had assisted as a part-time instructor. One was allegedly assaulted the day before, the other on 16 April. The police complaint alleged Adamson's hands had strayed while he was giving swimming lessons.

His final appearance as Len Fairclough was broadcast on 11 May, but it had been recorded in late March, before his arrest and suspension. Adamson asked Granada to write him out of the programme until his court case was over. His trial began on 18 July 1983 and he was represented by barristerGeorge CarmanQC, who had a prominent career defending celebrities. On 26 July 1983, atBurnley Crown Court,a jury found Adamson not guilty.The following year, after his wife's death and still suffering financial woes and drinking problems, he was allegedly persuaded by freelance Sun reporter Dan Slater to change his story following several bottles of whisky. Adamson was alleged to have told Slater "I am totally guilty of everything the police said".... "But what I hope you will print - there was no sexual intent."

As a result, Lincolnshire Police interviewed Adamson who categorically denied the confession. Slater claimed he had "mislaid" the tapes of the interview and the police took no further action.

Sacking

After he was charged, Adamson was refusedlegal aid.Two weeks before the trial began, he approached Granada to see if they would help with a potentially large legal bill. As they were preparing to hand over a £10,000 loan cheque, Adamson admitted to Podmore and Granada management he had signed an unauthorised contract to sell his memoirs toThe SunandNews of the Worldalong with the story of his arrest and trial, which had left Adamson with legal bills of £120,000.Podmore called this "indefensible" and the cheque was hastily withdrawn. Adamson was sacked by Podmore in a letter sent to his house whilst he was on holiday inBalion 25 August 1983. The letter stated Granada would not renew Adamson's contract, which expired in November 1983, and that he would be paid up to then.

At the time of his sacking, Adamson was earning a reported £25,000 a year.In 1974, he had been earning £12,000 a year.

On 12 September 1983, Podmore and Mervyn Watson made the decision to kill off Len Faircloughand he was killed off-screen in a motorway crash on 7 December 1983. To demonise the character, it was revealed he had been returning home from an affair, cheating on his wife Rita (Barbara Knox).Adamson claimed this was motivated by sheer spite on Granada's part, to turn viewers against Len.

Adamson celebrated the character's death by delivering an obituary onTV-amdressed as anundertakerand delivered a bitter parting shot towards bothCoronation Streetand Granada in a poem he wrote.

On 30 July 1985, Adamson appeared on TV, talking about the trial and its aftermath in aTVSprogramme calledRegrets.Granada refused to air the episode, because Adamson criticised Granada over his dismissal. They threatened TVS with legal action for using theCoronation Streettheme and photographs from the series.

Work afterCoronation Street

Post-Coronation Street,Adamson starred as Inspector Hubbardin a West End production ofDial M for Murderat theVaudeville Theatrefrom November 1983 to March 1984 which also featuredSimon WardandHayley Mills.The play was successful. In June 1984, Adamson was in a play inCroydon,and in summer 1984 he read short stories onBBC Radio 4.He was in a play inHarlow,Essex,when his wife fell seriously ill in September 1984 and he had to quit to return north. In February and March 1985, Adamson was based inCambridge,where he had a part inEntertaining Mr Sloane,and in spring and early summer 1985 he was inDarlingtonplaying Tommy Beamish, the leading role of an actor-manager of a troupe of music-hall entertainers on the eve of theFirst World War,inEmpiresbyJ.B. Priestley.

In 1986, he was in a touring production ofA Taste of Honey.Later that year, Adamson briefly settled in Canada, appearing in weekly repertory inTorontoandVancouver.He appeared inRun for Your Wife,aRay Cooneyfarce at the Bayview Playhouse in the former city.He returned to the UK in the spring of 1988 and played Sir Tunbelly Clumsy in a revival ofThe Relapseat theMermaid Theatrefrom September to December that year. From February to April 1989, Adamson starred in the playComediansinBelfast.Acting roles became increasingly rare after that.He was declared bankrupt in July 1991, with debts of £32,000, largely due to legal fees from the 1983 court case.

Adamson retired from acting after being declared bankrupt. In the final decade of his life, he lived on the state pension and benefits in a one-bedroom Housing Association flat inWelton, Lincolnshire.He revealed in an interview withThe Sunday Peoplein May 1994 that none of theCoronation Streetcast had ever contacted him since his sacking and that he had written twice toJulie Goodyear,who he had been very close to during his time on the show, but she never replied.

Personal life

Peter Adamson and Jean Duncan married on 2 December 1953. They had two sons. Jean Adamson, who had suffered fromrheumatoid arthritissince her teens, died ofsepticaemiaatWrightington HospitalinWiganon 26 September 1984, aged 52.

Death

Adamson successfully underwent surgery forbowel cancerin 1990. He suffered fromosteoarthritisandtinnitusin his later years.

Adamson died fromstomach cancerinLincoln County Hospitalon 17 January 2002. He left £5,000 to his elder son Michael.Johnny Briggspaid tribute, as didJean Alexander,who said, "It's sad he has gone, but I hope he is at peace now." NoCoronation Streetcast member, past or present, attended his funeral.

References

• Podmore, Bill(with Peter Reece) (1990)Coronation Street: The Inside StoryLondon: Macdonald.ISBN0-356-17971-0

External links

• Peter AdamsonatIMDb
• Peter Adamson at Corrie.net