Everton chairman Bill Kenwright died at the age of 78 following a lengthy illness, after enjoying a varied life away from the Toffees that included a role on Coronation Street.
The Goodison Park natives announced the passing of Kenwright on Tuesday, October 24. He had worked as the club’s chairman since 2004 after first becoming a board member in 1989. The lifelong Evertonian also became a co-owner of the Merseyside club on Boxing Day 1999.
Kenwright oversaw several successful seasons at Everton over his 19 terms as the chairman. The Toffees finished fourth in the 2004/05 Premier League campaign, to also qualify for the Champions League. The Blues took 12 top-eight finishes and reached the 2009 FA Cup final.
Was Bill Kenwright in Coronation Street?
Everton declared that the Toffees had lost ‘a chairman, a leader, a friend and an inspiration’ in Kenwright. His passing followed the Blues confirming on October 12 that the Liverpudlian had surgery to remove a cancerous tumour in his liver six weeks before the announcement.
Kenwright was Everton’s longest-serving chairman with 19 seasons but also enjoyed a varied life away from Goodison Park. He received a CBE in the 2001 New Year’s Honours List for his services to film and theatre. The lifelong Blues fan was also a prominent actor and producer.
Among the roles Kenwright held included a 44-year stint on the ITV soap, Coronation Street, from 1968 to 2012. He played the character, Gordon Clegg, in the TV programme. Kenwright also played Joe Taylor in The Liver Birds, Jimmy Fox in Z Cars and Mercer in The Zoo Gang.
Bill Kenwright played Gordon Clegg
Kenwright started his working career as an actor, and the late Everton chairman got his big break with his role on Coronation Street as Clegg. His character was the son of long-serving Rovers Return barmaid Betty Williams and Ted Farrell. Clegg was married to Caroline Wilson.
Kenwright’s character mostly appeared in the soap opera until 1969 but returned regularly up until the death of Betty Williams. His career away from Everton also included owning his own record label, Bill Kenwright Records, which recorded Kenwright’s boy group, Dream On.
The London Palladium cast also recorded Scrooge and the Lyric Theatre recorded Cabaret at Bill Kenwright Records. Kenwright also enjoyed success by staging productions of musicals, as well. He found an aptitude for pulling the strings whilst first putting on plays to feature in.
Kenwright staged Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers plus Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and made them big, per BBC Sport. He also staged Cabaret, Saturday Night Fever, The Sound of Music and The Shawshank Redemption.
Nottingham Trent University also gave Kenwright an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters in recognition of his outstanding contribution and commitment to British theatre, with the late Everton chairman’s Bill Kenwright Ltd one of the most prolific production companies around.
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