Biography

Bernard Youens

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Born
December 28, 1914 · Hove, East Sussex, England, UK
Died
August 27, 1984 · Salford, Lancashire, England, UK (following a heart attack)
Birth name
Bernard Arthur Popley
Nickname
- Bunny
Height
5′ 10″ (1.78 m)

He was in a play at Stockport's Theatre Royal when he met 'Teddy', who had been training at the Manchester Ballet School and had gone back stage . They were married some months later when he was in rep in Halifax. He was called up for war service in June 1940, just after their 3rd child had been born and spent 5 years with the 1st Battalion Loyals Regiment, serving in North Africa. Demobbed as a corporal, he returned to rep, but with job offers often not forthcoming, he was forced to take other work, such as working on building sites and in an ice cream factory. For three years he delivered bread and spent a year running a Manchester pub, which was a disaster. In between, he managed to get small parts on television, then, in 1958, he got a staff job with Granada Television as an announcer and did the first announcement for the opening episode of Coronation Street, little knowing that some years hence he would be appearing in it. He was married with give children - Brian,Ann,Peter, Diana and Michael. His father was a diamond cutter with a jewellery firm.
- IMDb mini biography by: Tonyman 5

A longstanding (though mild) bone of contention was that his Coronation Street (1960) character Stan Ogden was a devout Manchester United fan, whilst Youens supported rivals Manchester City.
Received a shrapnel wound to the leg at the Battle of Anzio in 1944.
Before being offered his part in "Coronation Street", he worked as an in-vision continuity announcer for Granada Television.
Rejected the offer of an audition for Coronation Street (1960) when it was being launched.
He suffered a heart attack in 1972 and a stroke in 1975, which badly affected his speech, though he recovered slightly with the help of a therapist. In the months leading up to his death, he suffered another stroke and had his left leg amputated due to gangrene.

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