Tony Stewart was the former partner of Eileen Grimshaw and father of Jason.
Biography
Background
Young Tony Stewart in the early 1980s.
Tony and Eileen had a short-term relationship in the early 1980s which resulted in the birth of Jason in June 1983. Tony had rarely much to do with his family and Eileen quickly moved on with her life. After another similar relationship, she gave birth to her second son Todd in January 1985. Tony maintained little contact over the years and did not play much of a part in his son's life, leaving Eileen to bear most of the responsibilities.
2003
Tony attempts to make it up to Jason for lost time.
In March 2003, Tony crossed paths with Eileen and Jason when out drinking with his girlfriend Merle Jackson at the Rovers in Coronation Street. He later later bumped into Jason at Roy's Rolls and Tony attempted to convince his son to talk to him. Jason agreed to meet his father for a drink and the pair got along well. Tony decided to help Jason by getting him a job at the building site he worked on, but Eileen didn't trust Tony and tried to warn Jason away from him, A row soon ensued as Jason accused her of not giving Tony a chance. After moving out of 11 Coronation Street, Jason turned up at Tony and Merle's house and much to their horror, announced his intentions of staying with them. Merle wasn't happy as it was her house and demanded that Tony got rid of Jason but he couldn't bring himself to do so. After much pressure, Tony persuaded an upset Jason to move back home. During this period Tony and Eileen became involved in a war to win over Jason's affections, and battled against each other. Eileen was pleased when Jason turned down another offer to have a drink and hang out with Tony, instead opting to take the new car she had purchased for him out for a test drive.
In July, Tony and Jason rewired Todd's flat so the electricity ran from Barlow's Bookies downstairs. Shortly after breaking his leg in a car accident, Merle threw Tony out of their house and he moved into No.11 with Eileen, although she quickly tired of having him around. When landlord Peter Barlow discovered that Tony had rigged the flat's electricity supply he demanded his money back, and Eileen ordered Tony to leave her house. Saying his goodbyes to her at Street Cars, Tony stole £700 of the company's takings and left. Eileen was being accused of the theft by Dev Alahan and he called the police. Jason tracked Tony down to a new address and got the money back, later clearing Eileen's name.
2013-2016
Tony returns for another chance over a decade later.
Despite the incident, Tony kept in contact with Jason, however this was mostly just a phone call over Christmas periods rather than meeting in person. When Jason failed to contact Tony in late-2013, he become worried and turned up in January 2014 to find out what the problem was, although he received a frosty reception by the Grimshaws. Tony and Jason headed to the Rovers where Tony admitted he had been a lousy father and wanted to make it up to him, but Jason was still reluctant.
Tony attended a meeting with Jason - who was now self-employed, on a project to build a new gym on Victoria Street for Dev Alahan and his business partner Kal Nazir. Jason secured a deal with them, but Tony wasn't satisfied when he learned that Jason had given them a cheaper quote, and convinced him not to give them "mates rates". After much discussion with his son and backing from Jason's girlfriend Eva Price, Jason gave Dev an inflated job costing. This led to Kal's father Sharif to hire Graham Naisby. Jason was angry with Tony for making him change his mind. Wanting to make it up to Jason, Tony then broke into the builder's van and stole his tools rendering him unable to do the job, and Jason regained the contract. He began dating Liz McDonald, the landlady of the Rovers, but was given the cold shoulder by her son Steve who hadn't forgotten about the theft from Street Cars or how Tony had left Eileen to take the rap. During a confrontation however, a worried Steve gave his approval of their relationship.
Tony began dealings with Rob Donovan and Tracy Barlow by selling them stolen second hand goods for their business Barlow's Buys. In May 2014 he purchased the Builder's Yard on Victoria Street from Owen Armstrong for Jason.
In October, Tony broke off from Liz when he discovered that she was visiting her former husband Jim behind his back in order to prevent Jim from harming Peter Barlow for Deirdre's sake. However they reconciled later in the month and Tony moved in with Liz at the Rovers.
Tony begins an affair with Tracy Barlow (December 2014).
Tony began an affair with Tracy in December after Rob was convicted of murdering Tina McIntyre and sentenced to 25 years. With Rob out of the way, Tony saw Barlow's Buys as a good moneymaker, offering his share in the business, knowing that Tracy was struggling to cope on her own. When she refused, Tony arranged for the premises to be trashed and burgled. Tracy was upset to discover that because her last payment on the insurance premium had bounced, she wasn't eligible to make a claim so gave in and allowed Tony to have 50% share of the business.
Tony and Tracy continued their affair over the next four months, although Tracy was annoyed that Tony was unwilling to leave Liz. He began to feel used when Liz became reliant on him for financial support; firstly agreeing to pay Steve's £10,700 tax bill from the Inland Revenue and then felt obliged when she asked him to pay for all of Steve and Michelle Connor's forthcoming wedding costs. Now tired of their relationship, Tony agreed to help Tracy when she suggested they found a way to get the Rovers from Liz in order to run the pub together. Tony persuaded Steve to sell his half-share of the pub to Travis Limited, however this was a false company set up by Tony himself. He then worked on getting Liz's share by making plans with her to start a new life in Spain, however Michelle's former sister-in-law Carla Connor put in an offer herself to buy Liz's share of the pub, thus scuppering Tony and Tracy's plans for complete ownership of the pub.
On Steve and Michelle's wedding day, Tony was blissfully unaware that Liz had already been informed by Tracy earlier that day about their affair and plans to takeover the Rovers. When Tony drove Steve and Michelle to the airport for their honeymoon, Liz left Tony a message telling him not to bother returning home as she knew about his deceit. With that Tony then disappeared without informing anyone. On the same night as revenge for Carla buying into the pub, Tracy started a fire in the Victoria Court flats killing Kal Nazir and Maddie Heath.
Tony deals with Callum Logan.
Tony did in fact return to the area in July 2015, attempting to seek forgiveness from Liz and Jason however they weren't so forgiving for his deceit and disappearance. Tony showed his more vulnerable side during the following month when Jason was badly beaten up in the ginnel. Sarah Platt informed Tony that her ex-boyfriend Callum Logan was involved after Callum's son Max Turner had witnessed an attack, and when a conscious Jason admitted to his father that he'd heard Callum's voice, Tony plotted his revenge. Tony grabbed Callum and dragged him into the ginnel and gave him a beating, with Callum pleading him to stop and dropping his tough guy act. Tony was eventually stopped by Liz when she told him that the last thing Jason needed was for Tony to be imprisoned. Callum eventually scarpered after making threats, and Tony returned to Jason's bedside.
Jason was discharged from hospital and swore revenge on Callum, with Tony having to talk him out of it when he realised that Jason was still unwell and needed to recover. Jason managed to acquire Callum's address from a reluctant David and Tony arrived at the flat as Jason was pitted against Callum under the orders of drug dealer Denton who Callum owed a lot of money to. Tony told Denton to let both he and Jason go and they would say no more about what they had seen, otherwise things could get messy. Denton saw sense in accepting the offer, much to Callum's annoyance, and Jason left a calling card of a punch to his jaw, telling him it wasn't over. Tony then took Jason back home.
Over a week later Tony and Todd nipped out at night to get Jason a takeaway and spotted Callum's car outside the Platt household with engine still running. Unaware that Callum had just been murdered moments prior by Kylie Platt for attacking Sarah and that David was going to use the car to transport his corpse, Tony and Todd keyed the car and then stole it and drove off into the night, not hearing David yelling for them to stop. Taking it to an industrial estate, Tony blew the car up and they returned to Coronation Street to attend Lloyd Mullaney and Andrea Beckett's leaving party at the Rovers. The next day Tony and Gary Windass filled in a manhole with concrete in the Platts' garage as part of building work for Gail's annex, unaware that David and Kylie hid Callum's corpse within.
Tony gets duped by Liz.
Tony was still determined to get Liz back and kept showing up at the Rovers in the hope of winning her round. This caused problems for Liz's relationship with Michelle and Steve as they believed she would allow Tony back into their lives, and frustrated Steve left for Spain to visit brother Andy. Liz "agreed" to get back with Tony, on the condition he cut ties with Barlow's Buys as she didn't trust him working alongside Tracy. Tony agreed and he offered to sell Tracy back his share. Wanting to speed up the process however, he withdrew all the money from the company's account without her permission. Liz gave Tony another ultimatum - to give back Steve's share of the Rovers. Tony agreed, having a solicitor draw up a contract and proposed to Liz at the same time, much to the shock of Michelle who truly believed they were getting back together. In the packed pub, Liz told Tony that the whole "getting back with him" was just a ruse to get back Steve's share of the pub. Humiliated and angry, Tony called everyone pathetic and left.
Tony leaves.
Tony then told Jason that he would be leaving Weatherfield and going to Birmingham to help a friend out on a project. Tony admitted that he and Todd had set fire to Callum's car and urged Jason to move on from wanting revenge. Tony left in his van later that evening and was waved off by the Grimshaws.
Five months later in April 2016 Tony died of a suspected heart attack in his home. His body was discovered by a colleague when he failed to show up for work, and the police later told Eileen Grimshaw the news, and she relayed it to a distraught Jason. The pair went to the hospital to identify the body, which was indeed Tony's. In mourning Jason felt guilty because his father had attempted to contact him when in the Manchester area asking if they wanted to meet up, but he forgot.
After Callum's body was found under the Platt's house in May 2016, Todd discovered that Sarah was present when he was murdered. Because Sarah had recently had a baby and was experiencing severe stress and mental health problems, Todd went to the police and lied that Tony had confessed to the murder, so that Sarah wouldn't have to face prison. The police believed Todd, since Tony had access to the manhole where Callum was buried while he was doing building work. The murder weapon that Kylie had used was Tony's wrench and a forensic investigation found Tony's DNA on it. Detectives concluded that Tony murdered Callum, much to the despair of Jason, who was oblivious to what had really happened
Other information
- Tony and Eileen met when they were 17.
- In June 2014 it was revealed Tony had a brother.
- Eileen once revealed that Tony was arachnophobic.
Background information
Alan Igbon as Tony Stewart in 2003
- Tony Stewart was played by Alan Igbon (pictured right) in his 2003 appearances. Igbon had previously played soldier Steve Baker in 1974 and 1975.
- In November 2013, it was reported that the character was to be re-cast and that actor Terence Maynard was to take over the role. He was also tipped off to become a new love interest for Liz McDonald (played by Beverley Callard). Producer Stuart Blackburn commented on Tony - "His arrival is going to cause massive ructions for the Grimshaws. He is a man who can be your best friend or your worst enemy - and with a long history of lies and betrayal, this is a guy who has an awful lot of making up to do." Tony's reappearance was to tie in with more focus to be brought on the Grimshaw family, especially as Todd Grimshaw (Bruno Langley) returned to the series full-time in November 2013. Terence made his on-screen debut in Episode 8292 on 3rd January 2014.
- On 17th October 2015, it was revealed that Terence had filmed his final scenes for the show. The character departed on 18th November 2015. The character was killed off-screen on 25th April 2016, five months after his final appearance.
Quotes
"See you kiddo" (Final line, to son Jason)