Alec Gilroy is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Roy Barraclough.

Alec is introduced as the manager of a Working Men's Club, but soon progressed to being a theatrical agent with acts such as Rita Littlewood (Barbara Knox) under his control.

In 1986, Alec took over the Graffiti Club on Rosamund Street, which enjoyed increased trade due to the fire at the Rovers Return.

In mid-1992, Alec is offered a senior position with Sunliners Cruises; he consults Bet and they initially agree to sell the pub back to the brewery and move down to Southampton.

In early September, Bet gets cold feet and backs out to stay on as manager of The Rovers to which Alec is furious, eventually leaving without her in front of the whole pub.

In July 1998, Alec saved Rita Sullivan's (Barbara Knox) life after discovering her unconscious from carbon monoxide poisoning in her flat.

When Alec discovered it was Rita who had phoned the Duckworths, he felt totally betrayed, and showing that money meant far more to him than affection, ended their relationship.

His exit storyline was in early planning stages when he had a surprise change of heart, as Bill Podmore recalls: "He insisted on leaving before he became better known as Alec Gilroy than Roy Barraclough, and all my efforts to dissuade him failed.

Barraclough references this in a 1990 interview: "For the foreseeable future, I will continue playing Alec because I'm enjoying it, but two years ago I thought I was going to pack it all in.

Barraclough remained non-committal about his future with Coronation Street, a situation not helped by the addition of a third weekly episode in October 1989.

Although he expressed a desire for Alec to be killed off, writers instead chose to send him away to Southampton to resume his entertainment career, believing that Bet's new status as a separated woman had dramatic potential.

When Julie Goodyear decided to leave her role as Bet Lynch after 25 years in 1995, Roy Barraclough was persuaded to return as Alec for a storyline which saw the Gilroys reunite to stop Vicky marrying Steve McDonald.

Alec next appeared in direct-to-video Coronation Street - The Feature Length Special, also in 1995, before returning to the regular programme full-time from April 1996 onwards.