Jerry Booth

Gerald William "Jerry" Booth was a partner in building firm Fairclough and Booth, later Fairclough, Booth and Langton, in the 1960s and early 1970s. Jerry started working for Len Fairclough as apprentice in 1962 and carried on at the Builders' Yard in Mawdsley Street when his apprenticeship ended, Len having taken him under his wing.

A nervous but kind-hearted man, Jerry hoped to marry his sweetheart Sheila Birtles in 1963 but ended up marrying demanding Myra Dickinson instead. Myra bullied Jerry into buying 13 Coronation Street but her compulsive spending on Hire Purchase caused them to fall into debt and they had to move in with Myra's parents. They separated when their daughter was stillborn and Jerry returned to work at the Yard, soon to become Len's business partner.

In 1968, Jerry left the Street again when his divorce from Myra came through, but he returned in 1971 to find work and was accepted back at the Yard with Len and Ray Langton. Jerry moved into Len's bachelor pad at 9 Coronation Street and for a time effectively worked as Len and Ray's housekeeper. He died suddenly from a heart attack in 1975.

Biography
Having been Len Fairclough's apprentice, three years later was his business partner. Jerry had feelings for Sheila Birtles, but she married another man. Jerry was bullied into marrying the domineering Myra Dickinson in 1963. She was very controlling and they had few happy times. Their marriage did not survive the stillbirth of their baby daughter, and their marriage ended after only a year. Jerry nearly reunited with Sheila in 1966 but her confession that she'd had a child with the man she'd left him for put him off. Jerry became a partner in Len's building company, but left in 1968, only to return in 1971 when Len heard he was looking for work.

Jerry eventually moved in with Len and Ray Langton in 9 Coronation Street to help keep the house in order, becoming their housekeeper. He helped Ray get ready for marriage to Deirdre Hunt. Jerry cared deeply for Mavis Riley, but like much in Jerry's life, the timing was never quite right, and they never became a proper couple. Jerry died suddenly of a heart attack in November 1975, surprising and upsetting the friends who had often taken him for granted.

Quotes
"Hello, Mr. Tatlock." (Final line)

Other information
Jerry was a kind-hearted, soft-spoken man who was frequently wound up by Albert Tatlock, Ray Langton, and Len Fairclough, although Len tried to look out for him.

Background information

 * The character of Jerry Booth as played by Haberfield 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.