Fred Elliott
Frederick Handel "Fred" Elliott is a fictional character in the British soap opera Coronation Street, played by John Savident. He made his first appearance during the episode airing on 26 August 1994. Savident quit the role in 2006 and Fred departed on screen on 27 October 2006.
Storylines
A year after the death of Fred's first wife, Sibyl, Fred became romantically involved with Kathleen Gutteridge (Elizabeth Rider), an employee in the old shop and she got pregnant but rejected Fred's proposal of marriage, feeling too young to be tied down. Kathleen agreed to allow Fred's sister, Beryl Peacock (Anny Tobin) and her husband, Sam, to adopt her baby boy and they raised Ashley, never telling him of his true parentage. In 1999, Fred let slip to Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls) that Ashley is actually his son, and Beryl confirmed it.
In 1997, Fred married Maureen Holdsworth (Sherrie Hewson) but Maureen quickly tired of Fred's overbearing nature and plans for their future and left him a week after the wedding. Fred then married barmaid Eve Sykes (Melanie Kilburn) in 2001. He also bought the Rovers Return pub for her to work in. However, it transpired that Eve had never divorced her first husband, Ray, leaving Fred alone again. In 2006, after a brief courtship, Bev Unwin (Susie Blake) accepted a proposal from Fred and planned to marry in October. Intending to retire to the country, Fred sold the Rovers to Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson). While waiting to marry Bev on his wedding day, Fred left the church to talk to Audrey since she had recently admitted her feelings for him, despite declining his proposal. After a discussion in which he asserted his love and commitment to marrying Bev, he left to return to the church but collapsed, dying of a massive heart attack in the hallway of Audrey's house.
