Corrie fans will remember Doug Murray who was a much loved character that was famous for his iconic sideburns and fling with Deirdre Barlow in the 90’s.
The actor who played Doug, Brian Hibbard sadly died at the age of 65 in 2012.
What many people don’t know is that he led a very interesting life had many weird jobs and was the lead singer of a popular 80’s band.
Brian was born into a working class family in South Wales and was educated at Ebbw Vale Grammar School.
He tried out plenty of different jobs that included being a teacher, a steel worker, a barman and a chimney sweep but eventually realised his love for music and formed the a capella group The Flying Pickets.
(Image: Tim Roney/Radio Times/Getty Images)
The band had a number one hit in 1983 with their first single – a cover version of Yazoo’s Only You.
It spent five weeks at the top of the chart and won the coveted Christmas number one slot that year.
They hit the Top 10 again with another cover, When You’re Young and in Love (1984), but only scraped into the lower reaches of the chart with their third single, the Eurythmics song Who’s That Girl (1984.)
(Image: George Richardson/Landmark Media.)
Stardom coincided with the 1984-85 miners’ strike, so the group staged benefit concerts and picketed pits, coke plants and power stations, leading one record chain to refuse to stock their albums as reported by The Guardian.
So he began his very successful acting career and started his run in Coronation Street in 1992 where he was one of Deidre Barlow’s many lovers.
He later called on bosses to modernise the show, claiming the storylines were 30 years out of date. Brian went on to land roles in several television series, including EastEnders (Henry Mason) and Emmerdale (Bobby-John Downes).
He then went on to star in Emmerdale as Bobby-John Downes and Johnny Mac in the long-running Welsh series Pobol y Cwm.
But his big screen break came alongside Rhys Ifans and Dougray Scott in 1997 movie Twin Town.
(Image: David Magnus/TV Times via Getty Image)
Hibbard died at his home in Roath, Cardiff with his actress wife Caroline, 52, and three children Lilly, Hafwen and Cai at his bedside after battling prostate cancer.
Close friend and Twin Town co-star Boyd Clack said: “His family were the most important thing in his life.
“He was an honest, decent and upright man. He was also a great singer, a great actor and a fine socialist.”
For more of the latest showbiz news from the Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
