Kevin Kennedy (actor)

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Kevin Kennedy (actor) bigraphy, stories - Actor, musician

Kevin Kennedy (actor) : biography

4 September 1961 –

Kevin Kennedy (born Kevin Patrick Williams, 4 September 1961) is an English actor, writer, producer, singer and guitarist, best known for playing the character Curly Watts for 20 years in ITV’s long-running television soap opera Coronation Street.

Early life

Kennedy was born in Wythenshawe, Manchester. He attended Saint Paul’s Catholic High School and was a keen member of Manchester Youth Theatre. Kennedy later studied drama at Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University).

Albums

  • Bulldog Nation (2000)
  • Present Kennedy (2002)
  • Rogues, Heroes, Angels & Fools. (2010)

Film credits

  • Spanish Capers (2005) (Writer and Producer)

Career

Kennedy was in the band The Paris Valentinos with Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke.

Between 1983 until 2003, Kennedy played the character of Norman Watts (known as Curly Watts) in the Coronation Street television series. He started as a paperboy, then a dustman (or binman) and later an assistant manager at a supermarket. The character had two marriages which produced two children – one from each wife. After a short break from acting while recovering from alcohol addiction in 2000, He released an album, Bulldog Nation, with his band The Bunch of Thieves, on the RCA Records label. The single peaked at Number 70 in the UK Singles Chart.

He returned to Coronation Street a few months later, before being written out in September 2003. In an interview in 2009, Kennedy said that he would consider a return to the show and it was later confirmed that he would film scenes for its 50th anniversary DVD. Kennedy was the writer and producer of the 2005 television series Spanish Capers. A second series was recorded in 2006-07 for Sky Television plc.

In 2009, Kennedy played the part of ageing hippie "Pop" in the touring production of Ben Elton’s We Will Rock You before joining the cast of the West End London production in 2010.

He also appeared in the 2009 "Scent from Heaven?" advert for Daz, as part of the company’s "Cleaner Close" campaign. In 2010, Kennedy, along with several other Coronation Street stars, contributed to Trisha Ward’s album Rogues, Angels, Heroes and Fools, recorded for the 50th anniversary of the TV series.

He is a supporter of Manchester City F.C. He serves as director of Addiction Management UK Ltd with his wife Clare, the Brighton-based organization’s CEO, offering a "professional advice service to the business sector."

TV credits

  • Dear Ladies (1983)
  • Coronation Street (1983–2003)
  • Comic Relief (1988)
  • On The Waterfront (1989)
  • The Royal Variety Performance (1989)
  • The Mrs. Merton Show (1995)
  • The South Bank Show (1995)
  • This Is Your Life – "Anne Kirkbride" (1998)
  • Football Crazy (1999)
  • Friday Night’s All Wright (2000)
  • Live Talk (2000)
  • Top Ten (2000)
  • Loose Women (2000–2007)
  • Stars and Their Lives – "Amanda Barrie" (2001)
  • It Shouldn’t Happen to a… Soapstar (2002)
  • V Graham Norton (2002)
  • Stars in Their Eyes (2002–2003)
  • Russian Roulette – "Boys v. Girls" (2003)
  • Weddings (2003)
  • Today with Des and Mel (2003)
  • Astounding Celebrities (2003)
  • Richard & Judy (2003–2004)
  • GMTV (2004)
  • This Morning (2004)
  • TV’s 50 Greatest Stars (2006)
  • Doctors (2006)
  • You Can’t Fire Me, I’m Famous (2007)
  • Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway
  • The Podge and Rodge Show (2008)
  • The British Soap Awards 2008 (2008)
  • Cleaner Close (Daz advert) (2009)
  • Coronation Street Knight’s Tale (2010)