Since EastEnders began in 1985, there have been a whole host of stars we've welcomed into our home by way of our television set. We've laughed with them, cried with them, yelled at them, thrown things at the TV set because of them, and sometimes when they got to be too much, we were even glad to see the back of them (that's you, Janine!) But one thing's for sure - the show and the talented bunch of actors who have starred in the hit TV soap, past and present, have kept us fabulously entertained for years. EastEnders... Everyone's talking about it - too right we were!
So it saddened us that over the course of this year, we lost quite a few amazing actors, who at one time or another had starred in EastEnders, playing very memorable characters - some of whom had even appeared on the show when it first began. And while no one is saying that EastEnders is the only notable work they've ever done, many of those actors made their name on the show and went on to become household names. No doubt 2022 must have been a very sad year on the set of EastEnders as cast and crew remembered some of the dear friends and colleagues that they had worked with over the years who are now no longer with us - some of whom have been sadly taken from us way before their time.
So as 2022 comes to a close, it feels very fitting to pay homage to these talented actors who have created characters and memories that will always stay with the show's fans. Our screens may be a lot more dimmer now, but while they may be gone, they will never be forgotten...
1. Leonard Fenton (Dr. Harold Legg, 1985-2019)
Leonard Fenton was the first former EastEnders star to pass away this year back in January, aged ninety five. Three years earlier, EastEnders' fans watched the tearjerking scenes where Leonard's character, the Square's beloved Dr. Legg who was as much a friend to the Square's residents as well their doctor, passed away with his dear friend Dot by his side as he took his last breath. This was to be Leonard's last TV acting appearance, and he gave a very moving performance. Who didn't wipe away a tear as Dot told him to go be with his beloved wife Judith again?
Born in Stepney, real-life Eastender, Leonard Fenton studied at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art after deciding on a change in career. He then went on to have an acting career that spanned a whopping seven decades, appearing in TV shows such as Colditz; Z Cars; Shine On Harvey Moon, and Doctors. But it was his role as EastEnders' kindly Dr. Legg which made Leonard Fenton a household name. And despite a blip in his career in which Dr. Legg made a series of blunders, we still say that he was the best doctor Walford had ever seen.
2. Anna Karen ('Aunt' Sal Martin, 1996-2017)
When Aunt Sal made her first appearance on the Square back in 1996, how many people thought "That's Olive!" Although South African-born actress, Anna Karen had been acting since the early sixties, she became synonymous with bespectacled Olive Rudge, the character Anna played in the comedy TV series and movies On the Buses which began in 1969 and lasted until 1973.
But it was Anna's role as Phil and Grant's aunty, Sal Martin, that introduced Anna to a whole new generation of TV viewers in the nineties, and did for Anna Karen what the role of Peggy Mitchell (Sal's sister) did for Carry On actress Barbara Windsor. In fact both Windsor and Karen were good friends in real-life (Karen even starred in a couple of Carry On... films) which explains how that sisterly bond came through on screen. The role of Aunt Sal was a recurring one, and she appeared on the Square over the course of twenty one years, usually turning up at Christmas or Mitchell family events. Or when she'd fallen out with her husband Harold!
A formidable acting talent with great comic timing, Anna Karen lived in Ilford (incidentally only a stone's throw from where Angel used to live before she upped sticks and headed to the States. And no, their paths never crossed!) And it was in the home that she had shared with her actor husband, the late Terry Duggan, where Anna sadly passed away back in February at the age of eighty five.
3. Lynda Baron (Linda Clarke, 2006 - 2016)
The term 'national treasure' has been bestowed upon many an entertainment legend, and it's more than fitting that it applies to British actress and a well-known face from seventies and eighties TV, Lynda Baron. While Lynda is best known as Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, the light of Arkwright's life in Open All Hours, she also had a role in EastEnders as Linda Clarke, the outspoken, no-nonsense mother of Jane and Christian Clarke. Making her the mother-in-law of Jane's husband, Ian Beale. We don't know who we feel more sorry for!
Lynda appeared on and off as Mrs. Clarke over a ten year period, starting in 2006. During that time Linda was involved in storylines such as her romance with Patrick Trueman and her separation from her husband, Roger, Jane and Christian's dad. Linda Clarke didn't always approve of the choices her children made in their lives i.e. - Christian's promiscuous lifestyle and Jane's marriage to Ian. But that didn't stop her from trying to create a life in Albert Square, setting up home with Christian or the Beales. But as Linda had resided in Florida before walking out on her husband, it was quite obvious that she was never going to give up a life in sunny Orlando for dreary Walford, thus making her last appearance in 2016, as Linda reconciled with Roger and returned to Florida.
Lancashire-born Lynda passed away in March of this year, aged eighty two. An actress whose career spanned eight decades (and we were already in awe of Leonard Fenton!) Lynda Baron had appeared in everything from Dr. Who to The Two Ronnies to Fat Friends, as well as EastEnders. But we think it's fair to say that she lives on in the hearts of TV viewers as Arkwright's beloved Nurse Gladys.
4. Melanie Clark Pullen (Mary Flagherty, 1997-1999)
Actress, writer and producer Melanie Clark Pullen got her big break in EastEnders playing, Mary Flaherty, the feisty niece of Pauline Fowler. Everyone remembers that week-long, and rather controversial, EastEnders special where the Fowlers and the Beales headed over to Ireland in search of Pauline's long-lost sister Margaret, the illegitimate daughter of her parents, Albert and Lou Beale. While Pauline realized that Margaret was a lot like their father Albert, Mark reckoned that in Mary, they'd found another Lou.
Personally we think they'd found another Michelle Fowler! Like her cousin, who had already departed for a new life in the States, Mary was mouthy, opinionated and not afraid to stand up for herself or anyone else for that matter. When viewers first come across Mary, she's already causing havoc in the family by having an affair with a married man. After arriving in Walford she continued to have a very turbulent love life, even coming between Joe Wicks and his fiancée, Sarah Hills. Yep, Mary was borderline troublemaker and wasn't averse to a bit of pot-stirring.
But Mary did have a heart. When her dad Connor ran off to Scotland with Ruth Fowler, the wife of her cousin Mark, Mary felt that she needed to stay in Walford to look after Mark who had been earlier diagnosed with HIV. Mary had always shared a close bond with Mark, but it was Mark who convinced Mary that she needed she needed to be in Scotland with her new family. She did just that - and that was the last we ever saw of Mary Flaherty.
The Flahertys weren't such a hit with EastEnders' fans. But that was due to Connor and Mary being not very endearing characters, and not at all a testiment against Melanie's rather excellent acting abilities. In Mary, Melanie was able to create a character that is still very memorable among fans. And had she stayed, we would have loved to have seen what other havoc Mary caused. But as it happened, once the Flahertys left, they were never mentioned again. Pauline probably rued the day she ever went off in search of her long-lost family.
After leaving EastEnders, Melanie went on to star in Casualty; Fair City; Inspector George Gently, and mini series A Dinner of Herbs. She also appeared on stage and went on to write and produce. Mum of three Melanie sadly passed away at the age of just forty six following a brave battle against cancer.
5. June Brown (Dot Branning, 1985-2020)
Viewers have just seen Dot Branning laid to rest in a very touching couple of episodes which brought back several of the Square's former residents. What was so moving about these scenes, is that viewers knew that it wasn't just a very fitting tribute to one of the Square's favourite matriarchs, but homage was also being paid to the legendary actress who played Dot, June Brown, who passed away in April at the age of ninety five.
When it was revealed that Brown had surprisingly quit the role just before the show's thirty-fifth anniversary episode aired, EastEnders' fans wondered if we'd see Dot back in Albert Square doing service washes at the launderette ever again. But when news broke that Brown had sadly passed away, we knew that we would never again see one of the most well-loved characters on British television because let's face it - there's no one who could ever don Dot's iconic overalls.
Although Brown has been acting since the 1950s with roles in Coronation Street, Doctor Who, Minder and The Bill, it is her portrayal as chain-smoking, tomato-juice-drinking, Bible-verse-quoting, not-one-for-gossiping Dot Cotton (before she became Dot Branning) for which Brown will forever be remembered. Could there ever have been another actress who could have turned Dot into the legendary soap character that she became? The funeral scenes that recently aired tell us that Dot, like June, will forever be missed.
Photos: YouTube
Blog graphics: Angel Noire
