Michael Vernon "Mike" Baldwin was a London-born businessman who owned and managed the Baldwin's Casuals and Underworld factories in Coronation Street from 1976 to 2006.
Mike started his career as a market stall holder but within a few years was running his own factory. In 1976, he opened denim-maker Baldwin's Casuals in Weatherfield and moved there, ending his relationship with his common-law wife Anne Woodley. As an employer, Mike was uncompromising, quick to threaten his machinists with the sack if they slacked and taking a dim view of workers getting above themselves.
Away from the factory, Mike lived a bachelor's life, using his Cockney charm and bulging wallet to attract women, although most of them eventually saw through him. While he wanted a family, he found it difficult to make relationships last and didn't raise any of his three sons; his eldest son Danny was a result of an affair between Mike and his brother Harry's wife Viv, and the secret of his parentage was kept until Harry's death in 2005. Mark Redman, Mike's second son, was born in 1983, after his mother Maggie had left Mike, and he didn't even know of his third son Adam Barlow's existence until 2001 as Adam's mother Susan left Mike in 1987 when he pushed her into getting pregnant even though she wanted a career.
Two of Mike's lasting relationships were with Deirdre and Ken Barlow. In 1983, Mike had an affair with Deirdre but it ended when Deirdre decided to stay with husband Ken rather than leave him for Mike. Mike continued to hold a torch for Deirdre but they never got together again, while the affair triggered a feud between Ken and Mike which lasted for many years.
In 1989, Mike sold Baldwin's Casuals and lost a fortune in a bad deal. The 1990s saw him rebuild his empire as he married Jackie Ingram, hoping to get his hands on her late husband's factory, but his heart lay with ex-partner Alma Sedgewick, who he pursued and later married after Jackie left him. His investments during the period included garage MVB Motors, flats in Crimea Street, and factory Kbec, before he returned to the rag trade with knicker factory Underworld in 1997.
Alma left Mike when he slept with Julia Stone but Mike found solace in the arms of Linda Sykes, one of his machinists, and in 2000 they got married, despite a considerable age difference. It wasn't until 2001, a year after Mike had forgiven Linda for having an affair with his son Mark, that Mike realised Linda was only after his money and threw her out.
The latter years of Mike's life saw him re-connected with his sons. In 2004, he made Danny a partner in the business and later told Danny that he was his father. Mike died in 2006 after a short battle with Alzheimer's Disease.
Biography
1942-1976: Early years
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Making his first appearance in 1976 as a Cockney businessman with an eye for the ladies, Mike is well known for his string of ruined relationships. During his time on the show, Mike had 25 girlfriends and four wives.
Mike's father was Frankie Baldwin, a former docker and cockney wideboy.
1976-1989: Baldwin's Casuals and affairs
He impregnated florist Maggie Dunlop, but the relationship was not serious, and she left him when he refused to buy the florist's she worked in. She married Harry Redman shortly before the birth of her son Mark. The Redmans moved away and Mike didn't see his son again for many years afterwards.
The showdown on the doorstep...
His first main (and perhaps biggest) storyline came in 1983 when he had an affair with Deirdre Barlow, a bored housewife living on Coronation Street. Before her marriage to Ken Barlow, Deirdre had been Mike's girlfriend, but she had decided Ken suited her better. When she confessed everything to Ken, Mike turned up on the doorstep ready to whisk Deirdre away, only for her to decide to stay with Ken and give her marriage another go. This event turned Mike and Ken into sworn enemies.
Mike went on to marry the much younger Susan Barlow (Ken's daughter), upsetting Ken further. Their marriage seemed cosy, but he was intending for her to be a housewife, and she was a career woman. When she became pregnant, Susan disliked the life she saw ahead of her and she told Mike she had terminated her pregnancy before moving to Newcastle after just a year of marriage.
1989-1999: Involvement with Alma
His on/off relationship with Alma Sedgewick looked over when he married wealthy widow Jackie Ingram instead, but the bride realised that Mike only wanted the money and factory that she had inherited from her late husband, Peter (who ironically died of a heart attack while shouting at Mike), and their marriage lasted just a week, Jackie threatening Mike with a shotgun if he didn't get out of her sight.
A couple of years later, after almost breaking up, Mike and true love Alma finally married. Mike ran his business, and Alma ran Jim's Cafe with Gail Platt; their marriage hit rocky patches at times. As his business went through a rough patch in 1998, Mike slept with Julia Stone, who turned out to be a former prostitute, and blackmailed him for large sums of cash. Long-suffering Alma finally found out the truth, and walked out on Mike; upon divorcing him, Alma reverted to her maiden name of Halliwell.
1999-2006: Fourth marriage, later years and Alzheimer's
Mike was soon wooing others, and settled with loud-mouthed machinist Linda Sykes, who was half his age. His son, Mark Redman, turned up in Weatherfield, and he took him on at the factory as manager. This proved wrong as, on his wedding night, Mike found out that Mark and Linda had been sharing a steamy affair. He forgave Linda, but told Mark to get out of his life. He duly left the area.
Mike's fourth marriage didn't last long though, as cracks began to appear. Mike enraged a jealous Linda by choosing to spend some days with his ex-wife Alma, as she was dying. He was with her as she died from cervical cancer. At this point, he knew that it was a mistake marrying Linda and that he loved Alma all along, and it was too late. He called Linda a tart, and claimed that she had married him only for his money, ending their marriage. Linda then slept with Hanif Ruparell, Mike's new business associate in revenge. She also caused a stir at the wedding of Fred Elliott and her mother Eve, and the pressure built on Mike as Mark reappeared for the celebration. Mike was spotted fighting with Linda, who disappeared. Mike was arrested on suspicion of murder and gained a few stalkers in the Sykes' clan. Linda was later found living in Ireland with a new man.
In 2001, Mike's first wife, Susan, returned to Weatherfield to build bridges with her estranged father, Ken. It was revealed that she had a son, Adam, by Mike. The truth was that she hadn't terminated her pregnancy as she said, but had made this up in order to escape Mike. As Mike began a fight to gain access to his son, Susan made efforts to escape him once more, but in her haste to leave, she crashed her car on the motorway and was killed. Adam survived the crash and this led to a custody battle between Mike and his nemesis Ken. Adam was awarded to Mike, although he was returned to Glasgow to attend Borthwick Hill boarding school.
In 2004, Mike was joined by his nephew Danny, and his wife, Frankie, and their children, Jamie and Warren. In October 2005, the revelation came that Danny was actually Mike's son, a result of a fling between Mike and his sister-in-law, Viv.
Mike dies in the arms of his nemesis
Near the end of 2005, Mike was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. In April 2006, after a short battle with the illness, he suffered a fatal hear attack outside the factory and died in Ken Barlow's arms.
Background information
- Mike Baldwin's family history was retconned in 2004 when his nephew Danny Baldwin was introduced. Prior to this, Mike was always referred to as an only child.
- After leaving Coronation Street, Johnny Briggs reprised the role of the ghost of Mike Baldwin, visiting Norris Cole in a one-off sketch show as part of ITV's Text Santa charity initiative which was broadcast on 21st December 2012.
- Mike is the longest running villain on the show.
Quotes
"If I come back and find another card school, it's down the road for the lot o' yer." (First line)
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"Well it's a rough old pub and it needs a rough old bird to keep charge of it!" (about Bet Lynch and the Rovers)
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"You're finished, Barlow! Deirdre loves me. She's mine, I..." (Final line, just before suffering a fatal heart attack)