Raymond Anthony "Ray" Langton was a building partner of Len Fairclough and a Coronation Street resident from 1968 to 1978. He was Deirdre Barlow's first husband and father of Tracy.
An ex-borstal boy, Ray built up a reputation as a troublemaker. He first appeared in the Street in 1966 but was forced out by Len after he threatened Lucille Hewitt. Nevertheless, Ray turned up again two years later and Len gave him a job at his building firm, and invited him to move into his bachelor pad at No.9. Ray hoped to go into business for himself but eventually settled for a partnership with Len and Jerry Booth.
Ray was something of a womaniser and he was involved with many women while living in the Street, including Sandra Butler, Audrey Fleming, Vicki Bright and Sue Silcock. In 1975 he married the yard's secretary Deirdre Hunt and they moved into No.5; their daughter Tracy was born in 1977. His roving eye soon led him into another affair however, with waitress Janice Stubbs. He ended the relationship before Deirdre found out, but the marriage finished anyway as Deirdre backed out of plans for the family's fresh start in Holland, and Ray went by himself.
Ray absented himself for all of Tracy's early life, and eventually divorced Deirdre. In 2005, he found out he had stomach cancer and decided to return to Weatherfield and make amends with Tracy before he died. After getting to know Tracy and her daughter Amy, Ray died at Deirdre and Ken Barlow's wedding reception at the Rovers.
Biography
Ray Langton was born at 2 Gas Street. His mum, Mary, died when he and his sister Janice Langton were young and their father died shortly afterwards. After their parents' deaths, Ray was in trouble with the police most of the time. After briefly staying around in the street in 1966, he left but returned two years later and got into the building trade with Len Fairclough. He began a relationship with Deirdre Hunt and they later got married in 1975. Together they had a daughter in 1977 who was named Tracy Langton.
In 1978, Ray began an affair with waitress Janice Stubbs and was found out by Deirdre so ended the affair. He then made plans to move to Holland for a new life and wanted Deirdre and Tracy to come with him, but at the last minute, Deirdre decided she didn't want to go with him. Ray then left the street on his own for a new life, leaving Deirdre behind to raise Tracy. However Ray did keep in contact most of the time and even sent Tracy presents, but this died down over the years. He later contacted Deirdre as he wanted a divorce as he found another woman in Holland who was pregnant with his child.
The return of Ray
Ray divorced from his second wife sometime around 2000. When he discovered he had stomach cancer in 2005, he returned to Weatherfield to track down Tracy in order to make amends. Ray arrived on the day of Ken and Deirdre's second wedding and hit baby Amy Barlow's pram. He met up with Deirdre, Blanche and Ken, at the hospital and realised that Amy was his granddaughter and that the mother was his daughter Tracy, who he hadn't seen since she was an infant. Ray revealed to everyone that he had stomach cancer and only had a certain amount of time to live and that he'd been divorced for five years. He lodged at No.3 with Emily Bishop who took him in to help him out. Tracy eventually softened towards her dad. Ray was in attendance Ken and Deirdre's wedding and wished the couple well however during the reception in the Rovers, Ray succumbed to his illness and passed away, much to the distress of Tracy.
Background information
Ray in Viva Las Vegas
- Ray Langton's departure in 1978 came as Neville Buswell quit acting and eventually went to work in Las Vegas. He however returned in 2005 for a brief stint, twenty-seven years after he last portrayed the character.
- The character of Ray Langton as played by Buswell was also intended to be one of the stars of a proposed comedy spin-off from Coronation Street entitled Rest Assured which got as far as the recording of a pilot programme in 1972 which, to date, has not been transmitted.
- He appeared in Viva Las Vegas!, a VHS spin-off released in 1998. This was a brief cameo appearance. In this video, he claimed he was married to a man and was hiding from his evil twin however his tone and past character suggests that these were typical tall stories given out in a tone of incredulity at meeting the Duckworths in the unexpected setting of a swish Las Vegas hotel (where Ray was working as a waiter). None of these supposed events were ever mentioned in the programme itself.
- The name of Ray's second wife has never been disclosed. In March 2005, Ray confirmed that Tracy was indeed his only child as sadly his wife had been delivered of a stillborn baby boy.
Quotes
"Hiya, Jerry" (First line)
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"Aye, me too" (Final line to Deirdre Barlow)
See also
External links
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