Michael Le Vell, real name Michael Turner, was born 15th December, 1964 in Newton Heath in Manchester. He is a British actor who has played Kevin Webster in Coronation Street since 1983. He first appeared in the programme in two episodes in January 1981 as troublesome paperboy Neil Grimshaw. His stage name is his mother's maiden name - Levell - split in two.
In 2011, he was accused of child abuse after he had allegedly abused a six-year-old girl, who came forward when she was many years older. With the total support of his fellow cast members, Michael was submitted to a police investigation which resulted in no charges being brought forward and the matter being dropped.
In 2013 he was charged again with a string of sex offences, including raping a child and was formally committed for trial on 27th February. ITV immediately suspended him and his last appearance took place in Episode 8058 (8th February 2013) with any other appearances recorded in the interim being edited out of subsequent episodes before transmission. The trial took place between 2nd and 10th September when the jury returned unanimous verdicts of "not guilty" to all twelve counts. Immediately afterwards, a spokeswoman for Coronation Street said: "We are looking forward to meeting Michael to discuss his return to the programme." Michael returned to filming near the start of 2014 with his return airing in March 2014.
Before Kevin's return it was reported that Michael had taken cocaine during his absence, and it was decided to give him another break in order to sort himself out. Kevin departed 6-weeks after his return in April 2014.