Ivan Cheveski was a character in Coronation Street who first appeared in the 2nd episode, Episode 2 (14 Dec 1960). He was the husband of Linda Cheveski nee Tanner. Ivan was the first foreign character in the show. Ivan was played by Ernst Walder.
Biography[]
Backstory[]
Ivan Cheveski was born on the 14th February 1936 in Poland. He was born to Kazimierz Cheveski and Biasia Cheveski.
1960-1967[]
Ivan turned up in on the 27th December 1960 looking for his wife Linda, who had again left him and returned to her mother Elsie Tanner on Coronation Street. Although Linda was dismissive the couple later reconciled and Linda discovered that she was pregnant. They moved into 9 Coronation Street, which Ivan bought. Their son Paul was born in June 1961.
The Cheveski family moved away in December 1961, when they realised that living in the inner city was bad for Paul's health. Ivan was offered a job opportunity by friends in Canada so he and his family moved there.
They visited the following year in 1962 just in time for Christmas, before returning to Canada in January 1963. In 1966 Ivan had his mind on moving to Birmingham. His marriage with Linda went through more problems as she had an affair with a Canadian and then returned back to Elsie's in Weatherfield. They reconciled once again following an accident in which Paul fell into a canal and nearly drowned.
Ivan's final visit to Weatherfield was when he and Linda attended Elsie's wedding to Steve Tanner in 1967. They see Elsie off as she moved to the United States with Steve in December 1967.
Later years[]
The Cheveski family carried on living in Birmingham. Linda returned alone when attending her brother Dennis' wedding in 1968. In 1980 Ivan and Linda suddenly had a grown up son named Martin who was apparently born back in 1964 (but nobody remembers seeing him). Ivan got into an argument with Martin prompting him to visit his grandma Elsie, but later in the year returned home to his parents.
In 1984, Linda left Ivan for a man named Dave Burgess. But the relationship proved too stressful for her as she found Dave suffocating, so returned to Weatherfield to oversee the sale of her mother's house following Elsie's move to Portugal to start a new life with Bill Gregory. She developed feelings for the buyer of Elsie's house Bill Webster and wanted to remain in Weatherfield, but ended up leaving when things didn't work out between them.
It is unknown if Linda attempted to reconcile with Ivan following after this. In 2020 a letter left by a deceased Dennis Tanner to his ex-wife Rita revealed that Linda was alive and living out her final years in Canada. The lack of mention of Ivan indicates that they probably didn't reconcile and likely divorced at some point after 1984, although it's unknown if Ivan is still alive at this point in time.
If still alive in 2024, Ivan would be 88.
Trivia[]
- Ivan was one of the original characters created for the programme. He appeared as a regular for twelve months before being written out in December 1961 which was due to Anne Cunningham not being able to renew her contract due to the Equity Actor's Strike. Despite the strike ending Ivan and Linda acted as recurring characters throughout the 1960s, with Ivan making his last appearance in December 1967. Linda would have a couple of guest stints in 1968 and 1984 following this, with Ivan only being mentioned. According to Ivan's actor Ernst Walder he wasn't invited back again following his 1967 departure, but probably would have accepted the offer if asked.
- The 1987 direct-to-video film The Life and Loves of Elsie Tanner featured Anne Cunningham returning as Linda Cheveski and her revealing that her and Ivan were now divorced. But the canon of the video is called into question as it hints that Elsie had just recently passed away, even though in 2011 her son Dennis revealed that she had died at some point in the mid-2000s. It is possibly however the divorce still occurred, as Linda was mentioned now living alone as of 2020.
Appendices[]
List of addresses[]
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Employment history[]
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Memorable info[]
Appearances: 14 December 1960–6 December 1961, 26 November 1962–2 January 1963, 3 October–30 November 1966, 4 September–27 December 1967
Born: 14th February 1936, Poland
Full Name: Ivan Cheveski
Parents: Kazimierz Cheveski and Biasia Cheveski
Siblings: None
Spouse: Linda Tanner (1958-1984)
Children: Paul Cheveski (1961), Martin Cheveski (1964)
Uncles: Rizhard Cheveski