Tony Booth

Anthony George Booth was born on October 9, 1931, in Liverpool, England. He was raised in a working-class family and was Roman Catholic, with his mother being of Irish descent and his father, who worked as a merchant seaman during World War II, being a Catholic convert. Booth attended St. Edmund's Infants School and later studied at St. Mary's College in Crosby, where he was awarded a bursary for his books. His early ambitions for higher education were curtailed after leaving school to support his family following an industrial accident that injured his father. He worked as a clerk in a docklands warehouse and at the United States Consulate in Liverpool before being called for national service with the Royal Corps of Signals.

Booth's interest in acting developed during his military service while posted at SHAPE in Paris. After completing his service, he spent five years working in repertory theater, which led to appearances in numerous films and television programs during the 1960s. His film credits include roles in "The L-Shaped Room" (1962), "Corruption" (1968), "The Girl with a Pistol" (1968), "Brannigan" (1975), "Priest" (1994), and "Owd Bob" (1997).

In television, Booth featured early in the series "Coronation Street" in 1960 and appeared in an episode of "The Avengers." He gained wider recognition for his role as the left-wing son-in-law in the BBC series "Till Death Us Do Part" in 1965. His guest appearances spanned many other TV series. Between 1974 and 1977, Booth appeared in the "Confessions of..." series of British sex comedies, playing Sidney Noggett in four films: "Confessions of a Window Cleaner," "Confessions of a Pop Performer," "Confessions of a Driving Instructor," and "Confessions from a Holiday Camp."

Additionally, Booth portrayed pub landlord Ted Pilkington in the ITV soap "Albion Market" from 1985 to 1986. He appeared in the short film "The Duke" (1998), where he played an elderly man claiming to be John Wayne, and in several episodes of "Family Affairs" beginning in 2001 as Barry Hurst. In 2003, he played a tramp named Nobby Stuart in a special episode of "EastEnders," and in 2007, he played Errol Michaels in "Emmerdale," each character serving as a spiritual guide to other characters.

Booth's personal life included four marriages and the fathering of eight daughters by five women. His first wife was Gale Howard; their daughters Cherie and Lyndsey are from this marriage. Cherie Booth, a qualified King's Counsel, is married to Sir Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Booth's political views were generally supportive of the Labour Party, but his personal political views differed from those of his daughter and her husband. With his third wife, Nancy Jaeger, he had a daughter named Joanna. He fathered additional daughters with partners he did not marry: Jenia and Bronwen with Julia Allan; Lucy Thomas with Ann Gannon; and Emma and Lauren Booth with Pamela Smith.

In November 1979, Booth severely burned himself in a fall into a drum of paraffin while intoxicated, which resulted in six months of hospitalization and multiple skin graft surgeries. Shortly after recovering, he visited Pat Phoenix, a "Coronation Street" actress and his former partner, who nursed him back to health. They cohabited for six years until her death from lung cancer in 1986, shortly after their marriage.

In 2003, Booth moved to Blacklion, County Cavan, Ireland, as a protest against the British government's treatment of pensioners but later returned to reside in Broadbottom, near Manchester. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2004 and experienced a stroke in 2010. He also suffered from chronic heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Anthony Booth died at his home on September 25, 2017, at the age of 85.

In 2019, his widow Steph published a memoir titled "Married to Alzheimer's: A Life Less Ordinary with Tony Booth," recounting her experience caring for him.