Alan Howard Alan Patrick Howard was a Geordie businessman who became Elsie Tanner ' s third husband . They were married from 1970 to 1978 . Alan arrived in Weatherfield in 1969 to open a salon , at which Elsie was hired as manageress . After a short romance , the couple got wed although their plans to move to Bramhall were shelved when Alan was declared insolvent and had to sell his assets to pay debts ; instead they lived at 11 Coronation Street . For the next three years , Alan worked as a mechanic at the Canal Garage , which he bought in 1972 . As with all of Elsie ' s relationships , the Howards ' marriage lurched from one drama to the next , but survived threats from Janet Reid , Alan ' s first wife Laura , and his son Mark who disliked Elsie . In 1973 , the Howards moved to Newcastle where Elsie had got a new job . Three years later , she returned to Weatherfield without Alan , the marriage effectively over . They were divorced in 1978 . Biography . 1924 - 1969 : Early life . Alan Patrick Howard was born in Newcastle on 23rd April 1924 . He grew up in a terraced house and shared a bedroom with three brothers , all of whom went to work in the mines . Alan was the skinny one , and had days off school because of sickness . Alan pursued a different career from his brothers . After serving with the British Navy in the war alongside Len Fairclough , Alan moved to Leeds where he worked his way up from car mechanic to garage owner . He eventually married Laura and they had a son , Mark , in around 1952 . Laura also had a good head for business and owned a salon in Leeds which Alan managed for her . According to Alan , they didn ' t have a loving marriage and it survived because of practicality and sex . They were together for 12 years . Both strong personalities , each of them blamed the other when things started to go wrong and at some point during the 1960s they split up . Out of spite , Laura refused to allow Alan to see Mark and Alan had no further contact with his son . 1969 - 1970 : Weatherfield , Elsie and insolvency . In 1969 , recently divorced from Laura , Alan bought florist " The Pink Posy " in Weatherfield from Dave Smith and temporarily moved into 9 Coronation Street , home of his old shipmate Len Fairclough , while he converted the florist into a salon and hired staff . When Alan introduced himself to the residents , he turned the heads of the womenfolk with the apparent exception of Elsie Tanner , who was cool towards him - a façade Ena Sharples saw through . Elsie had managed The Pink Posy for Dave Smith and grudgingly agreed to operate in the same capacity at Alan ' s salon on the condition that he took on her nephew and niece Bernard and Sandra Butler as hairdressers . Meanwhile , Alan hired Valerie Barlow as head hairdresser and , naturally , Hilda Ogden as cleaner . Gradually Elsie thawed towards Alan and she agreed to see in 1970 with him . However , when Ena commented to Alan that Elsie was after more than friendship , to make it clear that he didn ' t want anything serious Alan stood Elsie up , choosing to spend the evening by himself in a nightclub instead . After a miserable New Year , Elsie confronted Alan and threw his excuse that he didn ' t want to get involved back at him , telling him that she wanted the same thing . For all they fought it , Alan and Elsie felt strongly for each other and after a double date with Len and Anita Reynolds , they kissed passionately . In February , Elsie ' s old flame Bill Gregory - another Navy man - returned with the intention of marrying her . Their relationship had ended in 1962 when Bill ' s hitherto unknown wife Phyllis surfaced , but she had died since that year leaving Bill free to pursue Elsie . The prospect of losing Elsie to another man pushed Alan to offer her a life with him , which led her to turn Bill down . Elsie was delighted when Alan showed her their new detached house in Hawthorne Grove , Bramhall , but less so when he refused to marry her as well . Unable to meet halfway , they split up and Alan left Weatherfield . A few weeks later , he sold the salon to Dave Smith , cutting all ties with the town . In July , Alan made a surprise return to make things up with Elsie and popped the question . Because of the way he ' d treated her before , Elsie turned him down , but after some thinking she decided to take the risk and accept . They were married in a registry office on 22nd July , with Len and Bet Lynch surprising them there and offering themselves as witnesses . Having scoffed at Elsie embarking on her third marriage , the neighbours threw them a surprise party at the Rovers and wished them well . After returning from their honeymoon in Paris , the Howards prepared to move into the house in Bramhall , while Alan bought a new white Mercedes . While they were away , Ray Langton tried to secure the £350 payment for a job Fairclough and Langton had carried out , and discovered that Alan also owed other people money . Alan was put under pressure from his creditors to settle his debts , which had run up due to his flashy lifestyle which he considered essential to his public image . Alan set up a meeting at the Mechanics Hall with his accountant P . H . Vine where he offered his creditors a moratorium agreement , giving him three months to sell his assets at good prices so that he could pay them nine shillings in the pound on the money he owed them , promising that the rest would follow . Despite opposition from Willie Piggott and Sid Lambert , the majority supported the proposition , and Alan narrowly avoided being declared bankrupt . Alan planned to continue as before , but agreed to live within their means when Elsie read him the riot act . Alan moved into 11 Coronation Street and over the next three months , he sold his car , his salon in Huddersfield , his shares in a motel off the motorway , his garage in Ashton - under - Lyne and properties in Leeds and Ashton ; when he re - entered the business world , he would be starting from scratch . To earn a living , Alan returned to the trade he knew best . In August , Billy Walker hired him as a mechanic at the Canal Garage . Early on , Alan ' s pride got the better of him when Billy reprimanded him for repairing Ken Barlow ' s mini as a favour . Alan walked out , but later made up with Billy , accepting that he was now a hired hand . 1970 - 1974 : Second marriage . In October , Mark shocked Alan by turning up at No . 11 . Now 18 , Mark was studying textile technology at college and was keen to rebuild his relationship with his dad . Alan was thrilled to have his son back in his life but had to placate Elsie who had never been told about Mark . However , when Mark tried to drive a wedge between the Howards by accusing Elsie of having a thing with Len , Alan saw through his tactics and assured him that there was no way he would return to Laura . Mark walked out on Alan and normality resumed . In June 1971 , Elsie went to work at the new Mark Brittain Warehouse as checking supervisor . Alan got his first break since his insolvency a month later when Billy announced that he was moving to Chiswick to buy another garage and leaving Alan to run the Canal Garage . Alan managed to get a 15 % share of the profits and £5 more a week from Billy , and also hired Colin Harvey as a mechanic . Colin had been put forward for the position by Janet Reid , who had once helped Alan with an application at the Town Hall when she ' d been been a clerk there . When Janet got a job at the Corner Shop , she paid a few visits to Alan at the garage , making it clear that she fancied him . Alan didn ' t mind what started out as an innocent flirtation but asked her to play it cool . With Elsie nagging him at home , Alan was glad to get away and he and Janet shared a kiss . However Alan didn ' t want a serious affair - when Janet followed him to Leeds when he went there on business , he turned her down , to her disappointment . Elsie found out about they had been in Leeds together from a gossiping Betty Turpin , and proceeded to confront Alan , who insisted that he hadn ' t slept with Janet . After forcing Janet to admit the same , and that she was merely lonely and infatuated with Alan , Elsie warned her off . More problems were to follow for the Howards . In December , Elsie booked the Fylde Castle Hotel in Blackpool to avoid having to slave over a stove on Christmas Day , only for Alan to pull out in order to service Jack Isaacs ' s vans as it was the only time they could be taken off the road . Alan compounded the situation by inviting Mark to stay over Christmas , causing Elsie to go berserk , which in turn led Alan to walk out . After a lousy Christmas , Alan returned for his belongings and slept in the garage until he sorted out lodgings . In the New Year , Billy returned to the area and offered to sell the garage to Alan if he could come up with £2 , 500 . Meanwhile , Alan confided in Maggie Clegg his doubts about returning to Elsie , complaining that their marriage had devolved into a treadmill of arguments . When Elsie asked him to come home , he agreed to give it another go , but to give their relationship a chance to heal Alan didn ' t tell Elsie that Laura was loaning him the £2 , 500 for the garage , telling her that he got the amount from his accountant Mr Vine . Alan admitted the truth to Elsie in July when Laura called the Rovers asking for him . Fortunately , when he did so Elsie was less bothered by the breach of trust and more that Laura was coming to see them . To Alan ' s relief , the women got on and the purpose of Laura ' s visit wasn ' t to chew him out about falling behind with the loan repayments but to announce that she was getting married and dropping the loan . Elsie refused on Alan ' s behalf , telling Laura that the Howards weren ' t a charity case . Although annoyed by his wife ' s brashness , Alan made Elsie stand by the offer . Alan branched out from fixing cars at the earliest opportunity . In October 1972 , he agreed to sell used motors for Jimmy Frazer , with whom he later formed a business partnership . Jimmy trusted Alan to look after all of his local properties in his absence , including The Capricorn nightclub , a task Alan enjoyed as it reminded him of the old days . However , to keep on top of things Alan had to work longer days , as well as give up the odd evening for " business meetings " with Jimmy in clubs , with Jimmy getting young floozies such as Deirdre Hunt to join them . Alan knew that he would being taken for a mug and started drinking heavily . He reached a low point when he staggered home drunk and passed out on the sofa just after putting a pan on the stove . Elsie came home to find the pan burning but managed to put it the fire out and proceeded to give Alan a rollicking . Another row followed the next day when Elsie found Alan in a drunken heap after a party to celebrate Alf Roberts being chosen as the new Mayor of Weatherfield . Alan felt profusely sorry and immediately dissolved his partnership with Jimmy , seeing it as the source of their problems . In October 1973 , Elsie was given the opportunity to help set up Mark Brittain ' s new warehouse in Newcastle by working there as a short - term staff supervisor . With Alan ' s encouragement , she accepted the job and a few weeks later she was offered the position full - time . Having remained in Weatherfield , Alan then went to join her and together they decided to take the chance of a better life in Alan ' s old home city . Alan fixed himself up with a job managing a local garage and after the New Year , he returned to Weatherfield by himself to give up the tenancy of No . 11 and sell the garage to Billy Walker . 1976 - 1978 : Separation and divorce . In the event , the move to Newcastle heralded not a new lease of life for the Howards ' stormy marriage but its slow death . Elsie missed her old life and resented having to look after Alan . Rows became more frequent and gradually they lost the urge to fight for their marriage . In April 1976 , Elsie went back to Weatherfield with the news that she and Alan were embarking on a trial separation . Alan waited to hear from Elsie , and after hearing nothing for two months he wrote to her asking if they had a future together . Elsie didn ' t reply , preferring to let things continue as they were . In 1977 , Alan had an affair with an employee from the garage , Elaine Dennett . Elaine had marriage on her mind , despite an age difference , and secretly travelled to Weatherfield to ask Elsie to give Alan a divorce . As Alan hadn ' t broached the subject of divorce with her , Elsie realised that he didn ' t want to marry Elaine and was using her as an excuse , although to get Elaine off her back she agreed not to fight a divorce should Alan ask for it . A few months later , Alan saw Elsie for the first time in a year when Mike Baldwin sent Elsie to Newcastle to interest buyers in Baldwin ' s Casuals ' s new denim designs . Against expectations , they had a laugh together and the old spark between them was still in evidence . Alan was surprised by how much he ' d enjoyed seeing Elsie again but , to stop Elsie getting her hopes up , he immediately wrote to her to tell her that he wanted to go ahead with the divorce . After receiving her divorce papers in March 1978 , Elsie phoned Alan to plead with him to give their marriage one more try , but Alan had plans to marry Elaine and refused . The divorce then went ahead . Personality . Alan was a private man who fiercely guarded his affairs . As a businessman frequently meeting new clients , he projected an image of confidence , proficiency and affluence , even if he possessed none . A prime example was him marrying Elsie Tanner and buying a new Merc and detached house in Bramhall whilst fobbing off a rising number of creditors with rubber cheques . His creditors entered into a moratorium agreement to give him three months to pay them nine shillings in the pound - an agreement which Elsie forced him take seriously - but Alan retained this mindset even after getting out of the business world and going back to his trade . Alan ' s pride made accepting his reduced circumstances a slow process but he was always friendly to his neighbours in Coronation Street , doing many of them a good turn , particularly Stan Ogden who had Alan to thank for fixing him up with two jobs and a free handcart for his window round ( in exchange for six months cleaning ) . However , gossips like Hilda Ogden and their attempts to pry and provoke were met with outright anger and a raised voice . Traits . Alan had a moustache between 1972 and 1973 . He let Elsie trim it but she messed it up and he had to shave it all off . He had a tattoo on his stomach from his Navy days which had a Portsmouth phone number included in the pattern . When Lucille Hewitt spotted the tattoo , she got Elsie interested in finding out why he had the tattoo and whose number it was . Knowing the true story behind it , Len Fairclough spun the women a tale about the number belonging to the CPO ' s daughter Lil . Alan continued the joke by telling them she was a cipher expert who had to be sent urgent messages . In September 1973 , in an effort to quit smoking Alan started a no - smoking syndicate with Elsie , Alf Roberts , Hilda and Stan Ogden , Norma Ford , Ray Langton , Bet Lynch , Lucille and Rita Littlewood , planning to buy a villa in Spain with the money they saved and use it between them . Despite initial enthusiasm , by the following month everyone was smoking again . Relationships . Elsie Tanner . Alan met Elsie Tanner when he bought The Pink Posy from Dave Smith and arrived in Weatherfield to open a new salon in the premises in 1969 at which he gave Elsie the job of manageress . Elsie was cautious but open to being more than friends , while Alan , recently divorced from Laura , was firmly against it . Only months later when Alan was on the cusp of being declared a bankrupt did he realise what a good thing he had with Elsie , and go back to Weatherfield to marry her . When the Howards returned from their honeymoon , Alan ' s creditors got together to force him to pay his debts , and Elsie discovered that Alan had married her on the promise of things he knew he couldn ' t provide , leading her to fear that he only wanted her for her house . The ensuing argument set the precedent for their marriage . Alan preferred to solve his problems without telling Elsie , but his pride and yearning to move back up the career ladder impaired his judgement and often he needed Elsie to steer him in the right direction . Alan admired Elsie ' s strength of character but didn ' t like being nagged . In 1970 , he snapped at Elsie when she behaved in a way that reminded him of Laura , before apologising . Elsie preferred things to be out in the open and was always straight with Alan , as she was with everyone . A rare exception was in 1973 when Elsie went to visit her son Dennis Tanner in Pentonville Prison after he was banged up for running a double glazing scam . Elsie was too ashamed to tell Alan the truth and lied to him that she was visiting Sheila Crossley in Sheffield . While in London , Elsie was hit by a car and lay unconscious in hospital for several days . Sheila tried to cover for Elsie by telling Alan she was unwell and was staying longer in Sheffield , but her cover was blown when Alan went to Sheffield to surprise his wife and found she wasn ' t there . Alan then reported her missing to the police , refusing to believe that Elsie had left him as running off without making a drama out of it wasn ' t her style . The police in London identified her through Dennis and Alan was notified of her whereabouts . He immediately boarded a train to London to see her . Others . Len Fairclough was an old Navy shipmate of Alan ' s and knew Elsie well . Len inadvertently brought Alan and Elsie together by letting Alan stay at 9 Coronation Street while Len was working in Huddersfield in 1969 . Owing to his history with Elsie , Len grew jealous as their relationship bloomed . When Alan returned months after breaking up with Elsie , Len warned him off her at Elsie ' s request . He felt a fool when the couple then got engaged , and refused Elsie ' s request for him to be best man , bitter that she had refused to marry him twice . However , on their wedding day he thawed and surprised them at the registry office to act as a witness . Afterwards , Len was friendly to the Howards but made a point of not getting involved in their rows . Alan also got on well with Billy Walker , gaffer of the Canal Garage where Alan was taken on after nearly being declared a bankrupt . The only notable clash between them subsequently occurred in March 1971 when Alan helped an old client , Barbara Bromley , sell her car and buy a new one . Billy smelled a rat when he found out that Billy had lied to Elsie about working overtime at the garage . When Barbara turned up at the garage to given Alan a cheque , Billy got the full story from her , having initially suspected that Alan was playing away . Billy reprimanded Alan for not putting the business through the garage ' s books . As a favour to a mate , Billy sold the garage to Alan for £2 , 500 in January 1972 even though he ' d been offered £2 , 750 by another party . Alan returned the favour by giving Billy a job there when he came back to Weatherfield . Alan got to know Lucille Hewitt well when she took 11 Coronation Street ' s spare room in 1973 . Elsie had offered Lucille digs , against Alan ' s wishes , although he put his feelings aside when he learned that her landlord George Scully had confiscated her suitcase in lieu of payment of £4 compensation for damaging an electric heater which Lucille claimed she ' d never used . George backed down and returned the case when Alan saw him and threatened him with the police . Alan then accepted Lucille into the Howard household . She liked them so much that when the couple moved to Newcastle , Lucille asked Alan if she could go with them but he turned down her request as they wanted to cut all ties with Weatherfield . Hobbies and interests . Alan was a fan of cricket and football , and supported Weatherfield County FC . He was familiar with the guitar and in 1972 he was roped into joining a street band for a Community Centre concert , which , fortunately given the standard of talent , never went ahead . Alan enjoyed watching the fireworks as a lad and this interest continued into adulthood , with him agreeing to supervise the communal bonfire in November 1973 . Alan disagreed with Len Fairclough ' s assertion that fireworks were as dangerous to the children as guns , proffering his view that they were safe as long as precautions were taken . He had to eat his words when an accident did occur at the bonfire , as a spark landed in an open box of fireworks , setting them off and burning schoolboy Mark Hillkirk , who was badly burned . Although Mark made a full recovery , Alan blamed himself for letting it happen . Unsurprisingly given his line of work , Alan was a petrolhead and in 1970 souped up a car for a rally drive at his garage in Ashton - under - Lyne . After watching the car go out of control and crash on TV , Elsie feared for Alan ' s life however he turned up unharmed . Background information . Creation and casting . Alan Howard was introduced as Elsie Tanner ' s new love interest in late 1969 . Patricia Phoenix was against Elsie getting involved with another man , but she came round to the idea when executive producer H . V . Kershaw allowed her to put an actor forward for the role . Her choice was Alan Browning , an experienced TV actor who had played the lead character Ellis Cooper in the BBC programme " The Newcomers " . Phoenix , on her selection : " It was , I promise , a purely professional decision on my part although I must confess it idly crossed my mind that he was an attractive man whenever I watched him on television . . . But selecting him for my screen boyfriend was not a romantic affair . It was simply that I admired the man ' s acting tremendously . " " ( The Coronation Street Story , Boxtree Ltd , 1995 ) " Browning was cast but wasn ' t told that he ' d been Phoenix ' s suggestion . Browning left at the end of his contract in March 1970 and was brought back full - time four months later , with Alan and Elsie marrying in Episode 991 . Alan was Elsie ' s third husband but the only one to appear as a long - term character . To give the affluent couple a believable reason to live in Coronation Street , a storyline was written in which Alan was nearly declared bankrupt and had to sell his businesses to pay off debts . In Episode 999 , Alan ' s first wife was named as Dorothea , although by the time she appeared in Episode 1107 she had been renamed Laura . Departure . Browning and Phoenix began courting while working on " Coronation Street " and were married in real life on 23rd December 1972 . In 1973 , while on holiday , Phoenix decided to quit and return to the stage . Browning also resigned but as Alan hadn ' t been written out with Elsie , he continued to appear for almost two months after which he ( off - screen ) travelled to Newcastle where Elsie was working at a new Mark Brittain branch . To provide the Howards with closure , Browning agreed to return for two episodes in January 1974 in which Alan told the residents they were staying in Newcastle and picked up their things from No . 11 . After leaving " Coronation Street " , Browning and Phoenix embarked on a 43 - week stage tour performing in a play called " Gaslight " . Phoenix came back to the programme in 1976 , soon after Bill Podmore became its producer . Elsie returned to Weatherfield on a trial separation from Alan , who was not brought back with her . Podmore : “ One evening I called at their home in Hollingworth and , over a couple of drinks , Alan Browning raised the question . It would have been unfair to beat about the bush . I explained I had no plans to bring him back , and the subject was never mentioned again . ” " ( Coronation Street : The Inside Story , 1990 ) " For dramatic purposes , the possibility of Elsie and Alan getting back together was kept alive within the narrative for a while . In 1977 , Elsie saw Alan while in Newcastle to interest buyers in Baldwin ' s Casuals ' new denim designs . Alan Browning recorded a voice - over for a scene in which Elsie read a letter from Alan soon after her return from Newcastle . The narration was heard in Episode 1723 and was Browning ' s final work for the programme . He passed away in 1979 from liver failure following years of alcohol abuse . Quotes . " You are open , are you ? " ( First line , to Annie Walker in the Rovers ) " Well , we ' re out of it , aren ' t we ? I mean somebody ' s going to get it in the neck , aren ' t they ? And come to think of it , Councillor , you own . . . what - three properties in this neighbourhood ? It could be you , couldn ' t it ? " ( Final line in his on - screen appearances to Len Fairclough about proposed redevelopment of the area )