Ron Dixon (Brookside)
Ronald William "Ron" Dixon is a fictional character in the British soap opera, Brookside, played by Vince Earl from 1990 until the final episode in 2003, during which time he was involved in several major storylines.
He divorced his first wife "DD" shortly after arriving in Brookside Close. He then became engaged to Bev McLoughlin and in December 1993 she gave birth to a son called Josh, but they split up a few months later after she revealed that Josh wasn't his son. He was actually Ron's grandson and the son of Ron's son Mike.
In early November of that year, at the wedding of Frank Rogers and Lyn Matthews, Ron and DD got into an argument after Bev turned up. Frank took Tony in the wedding car to the reception to get him away from his warring parents. During the journey Frank (who had been allowed to drive the luxury car as a gift from Lyn) crashed after swerved to avoid an oncoming car which was being driven recklessly by neighbour, Jimmy Corkhill. Frank died soon after arriving at the hospital but Tony was left in a coma. He died three months later.
Jimmy broke down at Tony's funeral, confessing to Ron at the graveside that he was driving the car while high on cocaine. While Tony was in hospital, Jimmy had helped with extensive fundraising towards the effort to try and help him recover, hiding his guilt until he could contain it no more.
Ron later married teenage sweetheart Anthea Brindley who had revealed to him that he was the father of her daughter, Megan. In December 2000, only a few days before Christmas, his life was hit by another tragedy when his son Mike was badly injured in a car crash caused by neighbour Tim O'Leary, who had fled the scene after crashing the stolen car that he had been driving. Mike suffered spinal injuries and was unable to walk for six months.
In May 2001, after a succession of robberies at his house, Ron finally snapped and bought a gun off Sotto, an acquaintance of Tim O'Leary, which he eventually used on a burglar who had entered his house. The burglar was Clint Moffat, the brother of his daughter Jacqui's boyfriend, Robbie. Ron was charged with his murder. He was released on bail but following his trial Ron was incarcerated for nine months, four of which he served for possessing a firearm. After the verdict, Anthea left Ron and the close.
In 2003, Ron married Bev and in the final episode, Ron, Bev and Josh moved away from the close. His final words on the programme were telling Jimmy he hoped he never saw him again.