Peter Dean (born 2 May 1939) is a British actor, best known for his roles as

Pete Beale Pete Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Peter Dean (actor), Peter Dean. He makes his first appearance in the programme's first episode, on 19 February 1985. The character was introduced by Tony Holl ...

in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'', Jeff Bateman in ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'' and Sergeant Jack Wilding in '' Woodentop''.

Early life and education

Dean was born in Hoxton, East London, and was an acquaintance of the Kray twins while he was growing up. He went to primary school in Holloway and technical school at King's Cross, where he learned plumbing and bricklaying. He began drama lessons at 14 when his grandmother, the music hall artist Lilly Randall, realised that he was dyslexic. As a boy, Dean worked on a fruit and veg stall in

Chapel Market Chapel Market is a daily street market in London. The market is located on a street of the same name near Angel, and sells fruit, vegetables and fish, as well as bargain household goods and cheap clothes. It is open every day except Monday, oper ...

in North London.

Career

Dean decided on a career in acting after actress

Prunella Scales Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales (''née'' Illingworth; born 22 June 1932) is an English former actress, best known for playing Sybil Fawlty, wife of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), in the BBC comedy '' Fawlty Towers'', her nomination for a ...

witnessed him rehearsing Shakespeare in

Petticoat Lane Market Petticoat Lane Market is a fashion and clothing market in Spitalfields, London. It consists of two adjacent street markets. Wentworth Street Market is open six days a week and Middlesex Street Market is open on Sunday only. The modern market ...

and advised him to take drama classes. Aged 16 he studied under

Joan Littlewood Joan Maud Littlewood (6 October 1914 – 20 September 2002) was an English theatre director who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and is best known for her work in developing the Theatre Workshop. She has been called "The Mother of M ...

and has been an actor since he was 18. Dean's breakthrough performance was playing criminal 'Jack Lynn' in ''

Law And Order In modern politics, law and order is the approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws a ...

'' (1978). He went on to have roles in television shows such as ''

Minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...

'' (1979); '' Shoestring'' (1979); ''

Hammer House of Horror ''Hammer House of Horror'' is a British television series made in 1980. An anthology series created by Hammer Films in association with Cinema Arts International and ITC Entertainment, it consists of 13 hour-long episodes, originally broadca ...

'' (1980) and ''

The Chinese Detective ''The Chinese Detective'' is a British television police procedural drama series, first transmitted by the BBC between 1981 and 1982. The series was created by Ian Kennedy Martin, who had previously devised '' The Sweeney'' and ''Juliet Brav ...

'' (1981). In 1980, he played Jeff "Fangio" Bateman in ''

'' in 1982 Dean played the role of a police constable in ''

Shine on Harvey Moon ''Shine on, Harvey Moon'' is a British television series made by Witzend Productions and Central Television for ITV from 8 January 1982 to 23 August 1985 and briefly revived in 1995 by Meridian Broadcasting. This generally light-hearted serie ...

'' and, in 1983, he was cast as Sergeant Jack Wilding in '' Woodentop '' (the Pilot of

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

police drama ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

''). Film credits include: ''

Up Pompeii ''Up Pompeii!'' is a British television comedy series broadcast between 1969 and 1970, starring Frankie Howerd. The first series was written by Talbot Rothwell, a scriptwriter for the ''Carry On'' films, and the second series by Rothwell and S ...

'' (1971), ''

Murder by Decree ''Murder by Decree'' is a 1979 mystery thriller film directed by Bob Clark. It features the Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who are embroiled in the investigation surrounding the real-life 1 ...

'' (1979), '' Sweet William'' (1980), ''

The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu ''The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu'' is a 1980 comedy film. It was the final film featuring star Peter Sellers and David Tomlinson. Based on characters created by Sax Rohmer, the film stars Sellers in the dual role of Fu Manchu, a megalomaniac ...

'' (1980), ''

P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang ''P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang'', also released as ''Kipperbang'', is a British television film first shown on Channel 4 on its second night, 3 November 1982. Written by Jack Rosenthal as part of the ''First Love'' series, it is a coming-of-age fil ...

'' (1982), and as a

bouncer A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, or ...

in ''

The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle ''The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle'' is a 1980 British mockumentary film directed by Julien Temple and produced by Don Boyd and Jeremy Thomas. It centres on the British punk rock band Sex Pistols and, most prominently, their manager Malcolm Mc ...

'' (1980). In 1984, at the invitation of producer Julia Smith, he was offered the role of

, an original character in the BBC's new soap opera ''EastEnders''; Dean was chosen after the actor who originally auditioned for the role (

Leslie Grantham Leslie Michael Grantham (30 April 1947 – 15 June 2018) was an English actor, best known for his role as "Dirty" Den Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He was a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a West Germ ...

) was selected to play the character

Den Watts Dennis "Den" Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by actor Leslie Grantham. He became well known for his tabloid nickname, "Dirty Den". Den was the original landlord of The Queen Victoria public house ...

instead. Dean played the

cockney Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or b ...

fruit and veg trader from the show's inception in February 1985 until his departure in May 1993. In reality, Dean's contract was terminated following irreconcilable differences with the show's producers. Since his departure, he has publicly slammed the producers for culling his character and did an

exposé Expose, exposé, or exposed may refer to: News sources * Exposé (journalism), a form of investigative journalism * '' The Exposé'', a British conspiracist website Film and TV Film * ''Exposé'' (film), a 1976 thriller film * ''Exposed'' (1932 ...

with '' the Sun'' newspaper, where he revealed some of the show's secrets and his opinions about former co-stars. Subsequently, the death of Pete Beale in an off-screen car crash was announced in December 1993. Co-star

June Brown June Muriel Brown (16 February 1927 – 3 April 2022) was an English actress and author. She was best known for her role as Dot Cotton on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (1985–1993; 1997–2020). In 2005, she won Best Actress at the '' ...

(who plays

Dot Cotton Dorothy "Dot" Branning (also Cotton) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, ''EastEnders'', played by June Brown. In a special episode entitled ''EastEnders: Dot's Story'' (2003) a young Dot was played by Tallulah Pitt-Brown in fl ...

in the show) allegedly quit the show in protest following Dean's sacking in 1993, but returned in 1997. Brown and Dean attempted to set up a production company together, but it did not come to fruition. Since leaving ''EastEnders'', Dean's television credits have been few, although he has made guest appearances on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

sketch show ''

Bo' Selecta! ''Bo' Selecta!'' is a British television sketch show written and performed by Leigh Francis. It was broadcast on Channel 4 from 2002 until 2009 and lampooned popular culture, becoming known for its often surreal, abstract toilet humour. Seas ...

'', '' Banzai'' and '' Little Britain''. He appeared in the

Five 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awa ...

television show ''

Harry and Cosh ''Harry and Cosh'' was a British children's television series directed by Daniel Peacock shown on Saturday afternoons on Shake! on Channel 5 (UK), Channel 5. It starred Harry Capehorn, Coshti Dowden, Lucinda Rhodes-Flaherty, Gemma Baker and Lind ...

'' in 2002 and regularly appears in

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

s. In 1993 he was due to tour in the play ''

Entertaining Mr Sloane ''Entertaining Mr Sloane'' is a three-act play written in 1963 by the English playwright Joe Orton. It was first produced in London at the New Arts Theatre on 6 May 1964 and transferred to the West End's Wyndham's Theatre on 29 June 1964. Plo ...

'' with

Barbara Windsor Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera, ''EastEnders''.John Challis John Spurley Challis (16 August 1942 – 19 September 2021) was an English actor. He had an extensive theatre and television career but is best known for portraying Terrance Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce in the long-running BBC Television sitcom ''Onl ...

. Dean appeared in pantomime in December 2015 as the evil Abanazar in Aladdin at Harpenden Public Halls. Dean participated in the BBC series

The Real Marigold Hotel ''The Real Marigold Hotel'' (known in Australia as ''The Indian Dream Hotel'') is a British travel documentary series created by Twofour productions, directed by Aparna Sanyal and broadcast on BBC One and BBC Two. The show, whose name is based ...

, series 3, broadcast in August 2018. In 2020, Dean gave in-depth interview about his life and career for The Bill Podcast.https://soundcloud.com/thebillpodcast/s4-peterdean

Personal life

He has been married twice. His first marriage to Sylvia Jones (which ended after three years in 1969) produced one daughter, Leah. He met his second wife, Jean, when he was 29 and she was 15; she was babysitting for a mutual acquaintance. Dean is divorced and lives in

Wood Green Wood Green is a suburban district in the borough of Haringey in London, England. Its postal district is N22, with parts in N8 or N15. The London Plan identifies it as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London, and today it forms a maj ...

, North London. Dean is a practising

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

. This is the reason why he was always seen drinking from a pewter

tankard A tankard is a form of drinkware consisting of a large, roughly cylindrical, drinking cup with a single handle. Tankards are usually made of silver or pewter, but can be made of other materials, for example wood, ceramic, or leather. A tankard ...

in ''EastEnders'', because he does not drink beer and would only drink

lemonade Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored beverage. There are varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In North America and South Asia, cloudy still lemonade is the most common variety. There it is traditionally a homemade drink using ...

. He also races

greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Peter English male soap opera actors English male film actors People from Hoxton 1939 births Living people English Buddhists