AFTER Les Dennis was killed off as Michael Rodwell in Coronation Street and got the part of Fester in The Addams Family, his first thought was “I’m going from playing the dead to playing the un-dead!”

Unfortunately he had to shave his head. “I tried wearing a bald cap but it was no use so I removed my hair in aid of Breast Cancer.

“I had a choice and it will grow back,” he said.

Les applies his own make up.

“It is just a white face with black around the eyes. It takes me 20 minutes,” he said.

“I have to wear a big woollen coat over a fat suit with scarf and it can get very warm.”

Fester has the gift of generating electricity. “I am not allowed to say how they do it. Indeed, I don’t know how they do it.”

After three years in Corrie, Les is enjoying a live audience.

“I am also the narrator which gives me a chance to relate to them.”

Fester encourages his niece Wednesdayin her relationship with a normal bloke. But the eccentric family have arranged a dinner to meet his family. What can go wrong?

Fester himself has fallen in love with the moon. “It’s a quarter of a million miles away. That’s a good distance. We never fight,” he said.

Although he has performed in many musicals, Les hides his singing ability under a bushel yet sings beautifully. The Moon and Me, a Debussy style love song.

A versatile performer, Les has never been in a classic Shakespeare or Chekhov play. “That is my ambition,” he said.

Les has three children, Philip, 37, Eleanor, nine and Tom. six.

Along with wife, Claire they are coming to the show. “The little ones have already seen it three times,” he said.

* The Addams Family is at the Lowry from August 29 – September 9. Tickets, on sale now, from 0843 208 6000.