Michael Melia (born 25 July 1945 (in a preview of an episode of '' In Suspicious Circumstances'' where Melia plays

Freddie Mills Frederick Percival Mills (26 June 1919 – 25 July 1965) was an English boxer, and the world light heavyweight champion from 1948 to 1950. Mills was tall and did not have a sophisticated boxing style; he relied on two-fisted aggression, relen ...

, the actor comments that the boxer died on his birthday)) is a British actor best known for his work on television. He appeared as

Queen Vic ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the programme follows t ...

landlord Eddie Royle in

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

soap opera ''EastEnders'' between 1990 and 1991. He lives in

Hampton Wick Hampton Wick is a Thamesside area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England, contiguous with Teddington, Kingston upon Thames and Bushy Park. Market gardening continued until well into the twentieth century. With its road and rail ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

with his wife, Celia. They have two children, Tom and Charlotte, who have both appeared as extras in the ''EastEnders'' market square.

Early life

Melia was born in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

and attended St Mary's College, Strawberry Hill, the oldest

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

college in England. Before taking up acting he was a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. At one stage he ran a bar in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and thought about applying for a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

tenancy in England. However, the idea was vetoed by his wife, former actress turned teacher Celia Melia.

Career

He began acting in television in the early 1970s, usually playing heavies or policemen, though he spent four years performing classic plays with the National Theatre. In 1990, he joined the

soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television 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 East End of London, the ...

'' as pub landlord Eddie Royle; however, he lasted only just over a year in this role, as his character was killed off in September 1991. His character was stabbed by

Nick Cotton Nick Cotton is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' played by John Altman (actor), John Altman on a semi-regular basis from the soap's debut episode on 19 February 1985. Altman has stated that his initial exit was due t ...

( John Altman), who was later tried for the murder but cleared. After leaving ''EastEnders'', he appeared as Frank Dagley on '' Dangerfield'', and, more recently, Jerry Block for over a hundred episodes of the footballing

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

'' Dream Team''. His rugged features have led to parts in numerous crime dramas: ''

The Sweeney ''The Sweeney'' is a British police drama television series focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. It stars John Thaw as Detective ...

'', ''

The Gentle Touch ''The Gentle Touch'' is a British police procedural drama series made by London Weekend Television for ITV which began on 11 April 1980 and ran until 24 November 1984. The series is notable for being the first British series to feature a fema ...

'', ''

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

'', ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'', ''

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 ...

'' in the Series 1 episode "

Monday Night Fever This episode list gives brief descriptions and some other details of the episodes of the ITV (TV network), ITV television series ''Minder (TV series), Minder'', set in contemporary London. The earliest episodes focus on Terry McCann (Dennis Wa ...

", '' C.A.T.S. Eyes'', '' Campion'', ''

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 Bravo' ...

'', ''

Dempsey and Makepeace ''Dempsey and Makepeace'' is a British television crime drama made by LWT for ITV, created and produced by Ranald Graham. Lead roles were played by Michael Brandon (Lieutenant Dempsey) and Glynis Barber (Sergeant Makepeace), who got married ...

'', ''

Rumpole of the Bailey ''Rumpole of the Bailey'' is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, a middle-aged London barrister who defended a broad variety of clients, ...

'', ''

Inspector Morse Endeavour Morse, GM, is the namesake character of the series of "Morse" detective novels by British author Colin Dexter, a Detective Chief Inspector in the Thames Valley Police in Oxford, England. On television he was portrayed by John ...

'', ''

Maigret Jules Maigret (), or simply Maigret, is a fictional French police detective, a '' commissaire'' ("commissioner") of the Paris ''Brigade Criminelle'' ('' Direction Régionale de la Police Judiciaire de Paris:36, Quai des Orfèvres''), created ...

'', '' The Detectives'', ''Daylight Robbery'' and ''

New Tricks ''New Tricks'' is a British television police procedural comedy drama, created by Nigel McCrery and Roy Mitchell, produced primarily by Wall to Wall (until its final year, when it was handled by Headstrong Pictures), and broadcast on BBC On ...

''. He has also had parts in many other established dramas, including ''

When the Boat Comes In ''When the Boat Comes In'' is a British television period drama produced by the BBC between 8 January 1976 and 21 April 1981. Across the whole series, events are set in the time period from 1919 to 1937. The series stars James Bolam as Jack Fo ...

'', ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'', ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'' and most recently ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'' and ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

''. He is also known for having appeared in ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' in full alien costume as the Terileptil Leader in the 1982 story '' The Visitation'', and had a minor part on ''

Blake's 7 ''Blake's 7'' is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. Four series of thirteen 50-minute episodes were broadcast on BBC1 between 1978 and 1981. It was created by Terry Nation, who also wrote the first series, prod ...

''. In 2010, he guest starred in '' Dani's House''.

References

External links

*
Michael Melia
at Theatricalia 1945 births English male soap opera actors Living people Alumni of St Mary's University, Twickenham Male actors from Berkshire {{UK-tv-actor-1940s-stub