Vale: Tony Warren

UK writer Tony Warren, best known as creator of Coronation Street, has died aged 79.

He died on Tuesday, surrounded by friends, after a short illness.

Warren created Coronation Street for Granada Television in 1960 and wrote episodes until the late 1970s.

He trained at Liverpool’s Elliott Clarke Theatre School and was a regular on the BBC radio show Children’s Hour, before acting in radio plays.

In 2007, he spoke to the Manchester Evening News about the prejudice he faced as a gay man writing the soap before decriminalisation in 1967.

He said while “a lot of creative people at Granada didn’t care”, he faced a lot of homophobic remarks from some staff.

He was awarded an MBE in 1994 for his services to television drama.

Source: BBC