Sad news for the cobbles as original Coronation Street cast member dies

Daran Little who is a former writer for Coronation Street announced the news on his Twitter page today. 

His Tweet read: “Very sad to read of the passing of dearest Ernst Walder. An original C St cast member who quickly became Tony Warren’s boyfriend before Tony caught him in bed with another cast member. Ernst used to send my sons chocolates every Christmas and was the loveliest man.”

The star died of natural causes aged 94 on September 6 last year, but it wasn’t until Daran Little broke the news on social media today that his death was publicly revealed.

As one of the original characters on the cobbles, Ernst starred as Ivan Cheveski, son-in-law of cobbles icon Elsie Tanner, on Corrie during its earliest years, and even dated the show’s co-creator Tony Warren in the 1960s.

Born in Austria in 1927, Ernst played Ivan on Coronation Street in two separate stints, from 1960 to 1963, and again from 1966 to 1967.

Making his debut in the soap’s second-ever episode in December 1960, he was one of Weatherfield’s 21 original cast members, which included current star Bill Roache (Ken Barlow), Philip Lowrie (Dennis Tanner) and Violet Carson (Ena Sharples).