Vanya’s death is the third loss to hit Bill, 85, following the death of his second wife Sara Mottram, 58, in 2009. Bill is pictured at The British Soap Awards in July last year
Coronation Street’s Bill Roache has been granted compassionate leave following the death of his eldest daughter.
Vanya Roache, 50, died last week, leaving the star ‘utterly heartbroken’.
Is is the third loss to hit Bill, 85, following the death of his second wife Sara Mottram, 58, in 2009.
It is believed Vanya, from his marriage to his first wife Anna Cropper, passed away on Friday.
Friends paid tribute to her over the weekend.
One friend, Claire Wayland-Pratt, said that her heart was broken.
Wendy Elisabeth Vick posted a picture of the pair of them with the caption: ‘My beautiful, perfect, wonderful best friend and soulmate. Forever in my heart.’
A source told The Sun: ‘Bill is utterly heartbroken.
‘No father should have to go through the loss of a child, let alone two.
‘ITV are giving him all the time he needs but he’s understandably very upset.
‘After hearing the news on Friday he’s been told to take as long as required. There’s no word just yet on when he’ll return.’
Friends paid tribute to Vanya Roache (left and right, with Bill Roache and her brother Linus in 1970) over the weekend. One friend, Claire Wayland-Pratt, said that her heart was broken.
Bill, pictured with Vanya (centre), is said to be ‘heartbroken’ and is understood to have been told to take ‘as long as required’ away from ITV
Vanya, who was 50 when she died last week, is pictured with the late Anne Kirkbride, who played Deirdre Barlow in Coronation Street
Vanya, who was know as Varn to friends, leaves behind her fiance Toby, who she lived with in Chichester, West Sussex.
Born in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, Bill Roache’s ather the village GP, his early schooling was near his home, at the Rudolph Steiner School run on the principles of the Austrian philosopher, sparking his lifelong interest in astrology and the paranormal.
He next went to Rydal School, a boarding school in North Wales, well away from the bombed-out towns and cities of then wartime Britain.
National Service followed with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and, in his five years in uniform he rose to the rank of captain, but suffered an accident during live ammunition training with a mortar platoon which permanently damaged his hearing.
Vanya, who was know as Varn to friends, leaves behind her fiance Toby, who she lived with in Chichester, West Sussex. She is pictured with father Bill and brother Linus in 1970
Roache said he felt an ‘obligation’ to follow generations of his family who had gone into the medical profession but he was not adept at sciences.
His mother had been a keen amateur actress though he initially felt he was too shy for acting.
But after leaving the Army aged 26 he decided to give it a go, the desire to become an actor ‘burning away in me’, he said.
Minor roles followed before his first big break on television when he was spotted by author Tony Warren for the role of Ken Barlow for a new TV show he was making called Coronation Street.
Depicting a typical down-to-earth Northern community, it picked up the style of social realism of kitchen sink dramas of the early 60s showing the lives of working class folk, spending their time drinking in grimy pubs, living, loving and rowing with cheek-by-jowl neighbours in corner shops, cafes and terraced homes.
But after leaving the Army aged 26 he decided to give it a go, the desire to become an actor ‘burning away in me’, said Bill. He is pictured as Coronation Street’s Ken Barlow in 1961
Granada’s bosses – and the critics, panned the show, originally commissioned for just 11 weeks, but the viewers disagreed.
The Street went into the ‘stratosphere’ Roache said later, becoming the most watched TV programme in Britain within six months.
Roache bridles at his life’s work being called merely a ‘soap’ claiming the show was ‘cutting edge’ and ‘highly prestigious.’
But as his star rose as the ‘heart throb’ of the Street his personal life began to falter.
He had married Anna Cropper while both were acting in Nottingham and they shared time between a flat in Primrose Hill, London, where most acting jobs came up, and a bungalow in Lancashire near his Manchester workplace.
Son Linus was born in February 1965 and daughter Vanya in 1967, but with two young children and living between London and the North the marriage failed.
The relationship was not ‘fulfilling’ and he admitted a series of relationships with other women from 1965 onwards.
He had married Anna Cropper while both were acting in Nottingham and they shared time between a flat in Primrose Hill, London, where most acting jobs came up, and a bungalow in Lancashire near his Manchester workplace. Pictured: Bill, his first wife Anna with son Linus and daughter Vanya
He met his second wife Sara Mottram in 1971 and from then on was ‘totally and absolutely faithful’ he said, the couple marrying in 1978. They are pictured left in 1980 and right in 2003
Another low came in 1990 when he sued The Sun for libel over claims he was hated by his fellow cast members and was as ‘boring and smug’ as Ken Barlow
He was later to liberally talk about his years of drinking and womanising, coyly giving no denial when the figure of 1,000 lovers was put to him in a TV interview.
He met his second wife Sara Mottram in 1971 and from then on was ‘totally and absolutely faithful’ he said, the couple marrying in 1978.
In 1981 they had a daughter, Verity but three years later their second daughter, Edwina, died aged 18 months from bronchial pneumonia, before son James born four years later.
In May 2001 he was awarded the Member of the British Empire for services to TV drama.
Another low came in 1990 when he sued The Sun for libel over claims he was hated by his fellow cast members and was as ‘boring and smug’ as Ken Barlow.
He won the case but his £50,000 damages award left him with huge legal bills, compounded when he decided to sue his lawyers and lost, declaring himself bankrupt in 1999.
Throughout he was never off-screen and was presented with a ‘Lifetime Achievement’ Award at the British Soap Awards in 2000 to mark 40 years on the Street.
The following year he was awarded the Member of the British Empire for services to TV drama.
But in 2009 tragedy struck again when his second wife Sara died suddenly from a heart condition, aged just 58.
A year later he became the world’s longest-serving television actor in a continuous role and around that time began a relationship with TV weathergirl Emma Jesson, 36 years his junior.
But after three years they split, reportedly because Roache wanted to concentrate on his ‘spiritual path.’
He has never made a secret of his unconventional beliefs from being photographed in flowing robes at Druid rituals in the 1970s to his current membership of the Pure Love movement.
Roache has what he calls his ‘knowing – a knowing voice I know to be correct, by which I live.’
He believes in re-incarnation and an ‘absolute deity, a total God,’ but denies belonging to any ‘cult, philosophy or religion.’
THE DRAMATIC LIFE OF BILL ROACHE
Ster leaving the Army aged 26 Bill decided to give acting a go, the desire to become an actor ‘burning away in me’, he said
December 9 1960 – Young actor William Patrick Roache stars in the first episode of a new TV show, Coronation Street, scheduled for an 11-week run.
February 1964 – First child, son Linus, is born with actress wife Anna Cropper – but the marriage begins to falter.
1969 – First marriage at an end, Roache later admits having a series of relationships with other women.
1970 – He meets second wife, Sara Mottram, they marry eight years later and Roache says he remained ‘absolutely faithful’ to her.
1981 – The couple have a daughter, Verity.
1984 – Second daughter, Edwina, dies aged 18 months of bronchial pneumonia, son James born a year later.
2001 – Roache given MBE after completing 40 years on Coronation Street.
2009 – Second wife Sara dies suddenly, aged 58, from a heart condition.
2010 – Roache becomes the world’s longest-serving television actor in a continuous role.
2012 – Celebrity child sex scandals break in the wake of the deaths of Sir Jimmy Savile and Sir Cyril Smith.
March 2013 – Roache’s alleged rape victim becomes the first woman to contact police after discussing the Savile and Smith scandals with her son.
May 1 2013 – Police swoop on Roache’s house to arrest him on the rape allegations. The news prompts four more women to make allegations.
June 2013 – Roache is re-arrested and interviewed over the new accusations.
January 14 2014 – Roache goes on trial charged with two counts of rape and five counts of indecent assault.
February 6 2014 – After 5 hours and 59 minutes of deliberation a jury at Preston Crown Court finds Roache not guilty of all charges.