As well as an actor, he is also a musician and fronts the country-rock band The Bunch of Thieves. He has also guested with The Saw Doctors. As a youth, he played in a band called The Paris Valentinoes, with Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke, who would later join Morrissey to form the legendary alternative rock band The Smiths.
Checked into a clinic suffering from alcohol abuse having slipped and cut his head open on the set of Coronation Street (1960). Took lengthy time
off to recover.
He has a son, Ryan Williams, from his first marriage. He has two daughters, Katie May (b. 20 January 2004) and Grace, from his marriage to Clare Kennedy.