Bill Treacher
| Bill Treacher | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 4 June 1930 London, England |
| Occupation | actor |
Bill Treacher (born 4 June 1930 in London) is an English actor. Most famous for playing Arthur Fowler on the BBC soap opera EastEnders, for 11 years, from 1985-1996.
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[edit] Early life
Treacher grew up in the East End of London. After his national service in the Royal Air Force, he worked as a steward with P&O, where he saved enough money to attend drama school.[1]
[edit] Acting career
[edit] Theatre
After graduating from the prestigious Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, he made his West End debut in 1963 with the comedy Shout for Life at The Vaudeville Theatre. Several successful West End roles followed.
[edit] Television
Treacher then moved into television drama, making guest appearances in a number of classic series of the 1970s including Minder, The Sweeney, The Professionals, Dixon of Dock Green, Z-Cars and The Agatha Christie Hour.
[edit] EastEnders
In late 1984, he was the first actor to be cast in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, appearing in the first episode on 19 February 1985 as Arthur Fowler, a role he played for the next 11 years. In fact the co-creators, Tony Holland and Julia Smith, had scripted the character with Treacher in mind.[2] He received much critical acclaim for the role, especially for his portrayal of his character's mental decline and subsequent nervous breakdown. The character also endured a succession of misfortunes, not least his wrongful imprisonment for a fraud that he didn't commit, a persistent struggle with unemployment, his daughter Michelle's pregnancy at the age of 16, his son Mark's diagnosis with HIV, and a midlife crisis where he had an affair which lead to the breakdown of his marriage.
By 1996, he had requested to be written out of the series, stating "By the time I finished, even the sound of the theme music was making me feel ill. I felt depressed." He also stated in a 2003 BBC documentary interviewing past stars of the show that he had to leave as the stress working the long hours on the show was affecting his health and that the doctors told him that if he didn't leave the job soon and relax it would kill him.
Although it was his decision to leave the soap, Treacher was shocked that the show’s bosses chose to kill Arthur off. He has said: "I certainly didn’t ask them to kill him. Oh no, because you never know, you might need to come back and earn a few grand."[3] Following his departure the British press alleged that Treacher and co-star Wendy Richard (who played his wife Pauline) were involved in a feud that had lasted the entire eleven years of his stint. Treacher commented: "All I can say is that Wendy and I had a good professional relationship. We never met socially because we did not have a great deal in common."[4] Treacher also raised controversy in the press when his on-screen daughter and son Susan Tully and James Alexandrou did not attend Richard's funeral. However, when Treacher paid tribute to Wendy after her death he commented, "Wendy and I never had a cross word between us, despite what the papers said."
[edit] Other television appearances
In 2008, he starred in the six part series Beat The Treacher for UK Cable channel Bravo. The action based game show saw the star take on a number of challenges against professional sportsmen and endurance athletes. Treacher famously lost all of the challenges set for him and a subsequent series was canned. The show was shrouded in controversy after former professional boxer Terry Marsh knocked Treacher unconscious in a sparring session as he prepared for a fight with former Heavyweight fighter Henry Akinwande. Treacher suffered a concussion and was unable to make the fight. He also had a guest-starring role in the ITV police drama The Bill in 2006, and appeared as a security guard in an episode of Casualty in December 2007.
[edit] Films
Treacher has since appeared in several films, most notably The Musketeer (2001), Tale of the Mummy (1998), and George and the Dragon (2004).
[edit] Advertisements
In 1973, Treacher starred in a British television commercial for the Austin Allegro motor car. In 1983, he also appeared in a British television commercial for Colgate toothpaste where he played a grocer.
[edit] Personal life
Treacher is married to the Australian actress Katherine Kessey and they have two children, Jamie, also an actor, and Sophie, a production assistant. They live in Suffolk.
[edit] References
- ^ Kingsley, Hilary (1990). The EastEnders Handbook. BBC books. ISBN 978-0685529577.
- ^ Smith, Julia; Holland, Tony (1987). EastEnders - The Inside Story. Book Club Associates. ISBN 0-563-20601-2.
- ^ "D'Arthur to D'Artagnan" The Sun, URL last accessed 21 October 2006
- ^ "Bill Treacher and Wendy Richard's feud", Sunday Mirror, URL last accessed 21 October 2006
