Noel Johnson

Noel Johnson (born 28th December 1916 in Birmingham, died 1st October 1999 in Glamorgan) appeared in two roles in Coronation Street: in December 1964 he played Mr Braithwaite who met Annie Walker at the Egremont Hotel where she stayed after a short-term split with Jack. He returned to the programme in October 1976 as Annie's solicitor, Peter Smith, when she opposed Renee Bradshaw's application to open an off-licence in the Corner Shop.

He remains best known for being the first actor to play the title role of Dick Barton in the famous 1940s BBC radio serial, a part he played for three years that would gain him 15 million listeners a week. He quit the role in 1949 feeling that the £18 per week salary was not enough. He also played Dan Dare in the Radio Luxembourg dramatisation of the famous Eagle comic strip for five years from 1951.

He began acting after leaving school in Birmingham but put his career on hold while he served in the Royal Army Service Corps in the Second World War. He joined the BBC Drama Repertory Company in 1945.

On television he also appeared in An Age of Kings (alongside Violet Carson), A for Andromeda and its sequel The Andromeda Breakthrough, Maigret, Comedy Playhouse, The Plane Makers, No Hiding Place, Dixon of Dock Green, Out of the Unknown, Dr. Finlay's Casebook, Emergency-Ward 10, Z Cars, Doomwatch, Doctor Who, Warship, Rumpole of the Bailey , Death of an Expert Witness, The Vacillations of Poppy Carew and A Touch of Frost.

Film roles form less of a part in his CV but he did work for Alfred Hitchcock in his 1972 film Frenzy.