Coronation Street star William Roache is under arrest on suspicion of rape.
Roache, 81, has played Ken Barlow in the series since its first episode portraying life in a fictional English town on 9 December, 1960.
He was arrested at his home in northwest England on Wednesday over an allegation of raping an under-age girl in 1967.
He is expected to appear at Preston Magistrates Court on 14 May.
Roache issued an apology in March after appearing to suggest that sex abuse victims were being punished for past sins, and calling for anonymity for those accused of child sex offences.
In an interview last year Roache claimed to have slept with 1000 women.
He also recently defended a fellow Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell - Kevin Webster in the soap - who has been charged with 19 sexual offences against a child.
Guinness World Records lists Coronation Street as the world's longest-running soap opera. It also lists Roache as the longest-serving soap actor.
