Jack Duckworth

Jack was born into a dysfunctional family home in Manchester. After drifting through a series of dead-end jobs which he found very dissatisfying, he found his dream job when he started to work on a travelling fair, calling himself Ronnie. It was while he was working The Waltzer, a British fairground ride that he met Veronica Burton, who preferred to be known as Vera as it was "...more romantic." Jack was horrified when Vera told him that she was pregnant; however, he reconciled himself to the morality of the day and agreed to marry her. By the time he learned the truth, that she wasn't pregnant and it was a false alarm, he realised that he really did want to marry her, despite mourning the loss of his freedom.

[edit] History

Jack first appeared in 1979 embarrassing Vera with his common ways at Gail Potter's marriage to Brian Tilsley. (Prior to this, actor William Tarmey could often be seen as an extra in the Rovers Return playing darts; the production team of Coronation Street have since reconciled this by saying he was the same character.) He became a regular character from 1981 and moved into the street in 1983, to the dismay of his new neighbours.

The Duckworth marriage was always rocky due to their wayward son, Terry, and extra-marital flings. Jack once had an affair with Street man-eater Bet Lynch, much to her later shame. He enrolled with a video dating agency, calling himself Vince St. Clair and adopted a white suit, gold medallion and phony trans-Atlantic accent. Vera, who also took part in the dating scheme, under the name of Carole Munroe, was shocked to see Jack's video. She pretended to meet him in The Rovers Return pub, wearing a ginger wig. This led to a classic confrontation; 'Carole Munroe' had been claiming to be a rich widow, which led Jack to say "You're no flamin' widow!" As Vera swiped Jack with her handbag she shouted "No! But I will be ten minutes after I get you home!"

Vera also had her fair share of lovers. She was tempted by a former romance in with the smarmy Lestor Fontaine, but realised she could never leave Jack. In 2000, when she believed she was about to die in an operation, she confessed to Jack through a goodbye letter that Terry may not have been his real son due to a fling early in their marriage. Jack confessed to Curly that he knew of the affair at the time (and put an end to it by beating up her lover unknown to Vera), but also knew that Terry was his son, as he reminded him too much of himself.

During a trip to the United States, Jack confessed to having lied at their wedding (by making a smudge on his year of birth to make it look like another number), and said he was two years older than he really was just to impress a young Vera. Since they were not legally married, they tied the knot in the famous Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas.

The Duckworths have three grandchildren: Paul (by Andrea Clayton), Thomas (by Lisa Horton), and Benjamin (by Tricia Armstrong), but they hardly see any of them due to Terry's reluctance to be a father. Paul was conceived in the mid-1980s, but the teenage Andrea Clayton fled with her family to escape Terry. In the early 1990s, Terry made his then girlfriend, Lisa Horton, pregnant. He was imprisoned but vowed to marry her, and the pair were delighted when Terry was allowed out of prison (although handcuffed) for one day only for his wedding. They duly married but the groom escaped from the police and went on the run. He was later re-captured in a supermarket car park, where he had lingered too long in order to tell Lisa how much he loved her and that the flight from the wedding was just opportunistic and didn't reflect on their relationship. However, she knew that leopards never change their spots, that Terry was a rogue and always would be, so she broke off their relationship and, despite being pregnant, set up home with Des Barnes at no. 6. Vera turned against her instantly, even accusing her of being the reason for Terry's misfortune. Jack however knew that Terry would never stand by his family, but felt duty bound to stand by his wife in their shunning of Lisa. She gave birth to a boy, Thomas, and everything seemed perfect for their surrogate factory, until, one night, Lisa was leaving the Rovers and dropped her change in the middle of the street. While bending down to retrieve it, a car turned the corner and fatally struck her.

Following this tragedy, Thomas went to live with his paternal grandparents, but Jack and Vera found it hard to cope, particularly financially. Utterly callously, Terry sold his son to his maternal grandparents, the Hortons of Blackpool. The scenes where Vera begs Terry to change his mind and her subsequent break down when he refuses, are amongst the most powerful ever seen in the programme. Jack's response was more straightforward - he punched Terry on the jaw.

A one-night stand with barmaid Tricia Armstrong resulted in baby Brad, but Terry didn't want to know, and Tricia left with a new lover. The Duckworths have tried several times to win custody of Thomas from the Hortons, but to no avail. They continue to see him occasionally, but relations remain strained.

Jack and Vera have mellowed over the years, changing from the 'neighbours from hell' characters of the early days into a maternal and avuncular figure. They have become surrogate parents for Tyrone Dobbs, and Jack consider him to be more his own son than Terry ever was. They are a down-to-earth northern couple and comic double act, in the great music hall tradition. Jack adores his pigeons, and Vera cannot stand them. Most recently, Jack agreed to sell his dead body for a certain sum of cash to an artist who enjoys painting stuffed humans, so he could buy Vera a Christmas present. When Vera discovered this, she argued with the woman, who then turned up, inspired by Vera. They agreed to both pose nude for the artist, but on condition that they would be buried as normal. The Duckworths celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary with a party at the Rover's in August 2007.

[edit] Family

Father: Harry Duckworth
Mother: Maggie Duckworth
Brother: Clifford Duckworth
Wife: Vera Duckworth
Son: Terry Duckworth
Grandsons: Thomas 'Tommy' Duckworth, Brad Armstrong, Paul Clayton

[edit] Lives With

Preceded by Bet Gilroy	Landlord of The Rovers Return Inn 1995 - 1998	Succeeded by Natalie Barnes

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Current characters	Ken Barlow \| Emily Bishop \| Rita Sullivan \| Betty Williams \| Deirdre Barlow \| Gail Platt \| Blanche Hunt \| Vera Duckworth \| Audrey Roberts \| Jack Duckworth \| Kevin Webster \| Bill Webster \| Sally Webster \| Jim McDonald \| Liz Tomlin \| Steve McDonald \| Rosie Webster \| David Platt \| Norris Cole \| Sophie Webster \| Roy Cropper \| Ashley Peacock \| Janice Battersby \| Leanne Battersby \| Tyrone Dobbs \| Dev Alahan \| Eileen Grimshaw \| Maria Sutherland \| Kirk Sutherland \| Jason Grimshaw \| Paul Clayton \| Fiz Brown \| Claire Peacock \| Sean Tully \| Chesney Battersby-Brown \| Amy Barlow \| Jamie Baldwin \| Kelly Crabtree \| Violet Wilson \| Lloyd Mullaney \| Molly Compton \| Vernon Tomlin \| Becky Granger \| Michelle Connor \| Ryan Connor \| Liam Connor \| Carla Connor \| Lauren Wilson Recurring and minor characters
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