Actress Gillian Taylforth has played Kathy Beale since the 1980s – making her one of the few original actors left.
Gillian, 65, has played Ian Beale’s long-suffering mother for over 20 years, her character Kathy starring in the very first episode of EastEnders in 1985.
She has taken hiatus from the soap over the years, also starring in Footballers’ Wives for all five series and The Bill as Sergeant Nikki Wright in 2006.
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It was the TV star’s turn on Strictly Come Dancing in 2008 and became the fourth roommate to be evicted from the Celebrity Big Brother series in 2013.
Kathy is – and always will be – one of Walford’s greats
(Image: BBC)
She recently got a role in Hollyoaks as Sandy Roscoe, a character she played until 2015.
But she is best known for her character, Kathy, and remains one of the most popular characters in Albert Square, and the role has earned Gillian great popularity on British television.
Gillian was famous with fellow EastEnders Nick Berry, who played Simon Wicks on the show. The on-screen stepmother and stepson were together for three years between 1985 and 1988.
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The actress shares three children with her 23-year-old partner Geoff Knights, who tragically died of stomach cancer in 2013 at the age of 58.
And it seems that acting genes run in families. Gillian’s sister Kim Taylforth is also an actress best known for playing Marilyn Fenner on ITV’s Bad Girls. She also appeared in Operation Good Guys and London’s Burning.