Coronation Street star, David Neilson, couldn’t be more different from Roy Cropper in real life.

The actor, 75, has played the eccentric yet compassionate café owner, who has weathered a number of storms in Weatherfield, for almost 30 years. However, despite his impressive tenure on the show, David was recently turned away from the Corrie set in Granada Studios because security guards didn’t recognise him out of character.

Reacting on Instagram to a video of the soap legend trying to gain access to his place of work, who had to explain: “I’m Roy Cropper’ – while signing autographs – one person replied: “The security guard probably didn’t recognise him after he had a shave and a bath.”

Off screen, dad-of-one David enjoys spending time with his family in his second home in Barcelona – where he says he’s glad no-one recognises him.

So, as we wait to see Roy rock up in Roy’s Rolls again, here’s a look at the man behind the apron, including David’s humble beginnings flogging ice cream…

Ice cream salesman

Loughborough-born David trained as an actor at the prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama, which includes Dame Judi Dench as a former student.

He is now a household name on Corrie playing the revered Roy. However, while making a name for himself, David worked a number of different jobs, including as a gas fitter, plumber, barman and ice cream salesman.

Before landing a part in the ITV soap, the actor also enjoyed a number of impressive theatre jobs, including writing and directing plays and teaching drama at Rose Bruford. He also appeared in two Mike Leigh films – Life Is Sweet and Secrets and Lies.

Married for 50 years

Roy and former wife Hayley Cropper were one of the most iconic Coronation Street couples of all time. Fans were bereft when Hayley made the decision to die on her own terms following her terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis.

Off screen, David has been married to wife Jane Neilson for more than 50 years, and she has played a huge part in helping shape Roy into the curiously complex character he is today.

Speaking with the Mirror in 2009, David revealed how he’d chosen to play Roy as autistic, crediting special needs teacher Jane for her expertise.

David explained: “Roy was a psychopath. He was stalking Deirdre and was a bit scary. It’s nice to play psychos but they don’t stay around too long. My wife is a special needs teacher and she worked with people with autism. She said Roy could have Asperger’s syndrome, making him socially inept, rather than menacing. Nobody really knew what Asperger’s was back in 1995, so it’s my wife I owe it to.” Jane and David have a son, Daniel, and are now proud grandparents to two young granddaughters.

Touching tribute to late mum

Sadly David’s mum, Phyllis, died just before he bagged the part of Roy, but she provided him with one of his signature props on the Cobbles – his iconic shopping bag! The bag David uses on set is the same one Phyllis used to do her shopping around Loughborough for years.

In a previous interview with The Mirror, David revealed: “That bag went round Loughborough market for many years! My mother died just before I joined the show so I was chucking stuff out and thought it would be good for Roy. He was always knocking on Deirdre’s door, asking if she needed a bit of shopping and initially they gave me a carrier bag. But you see guys standing at bus stops with bags like that and I thought I’d introduce it. It’s also very handy to carry my scripts round in!”

Barcelona bolthole

After years working in relative anonymity, David admits he found his sudden rise to fame a bit of a shock. To get away from the spotlight, he decided to buy a place in Spain, where he escapes to with his wife, Jane, when he is not on the Cobbles.

Opening up about his Barcelona bolthole, which he bought in 2002, the actor told us: “I need to get away from Roy and be myself and they don’t know Roy in Barcelona. If I’m in Spain for a few days I forget what I do for a living, which is the important thing. It means when I come back and someone shouts ‘Roy’, for a moment I forget they’re actually talking to me.”

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Source: New York Post