Peter Dean (born 2 May 1939) is a British actor, best known for his roles as Pete Beale in '' EastEnders'', Jeff Bateman in ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based ...

'' 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 Ronald Kray (24 October 193317 March 1995) and Reginald Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000) were identical twin brothers, gangsters and convicted criminals. They were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in the East End of London, Engl ...

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 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 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 ...

and has been an actor since he was 18. Dean's breakthrough performance was playing criminal 'Jack Lynn' in '' Law And Order'' (1978). He went on to have roles in television shows such as '' Minder'' (1979); '' Shoestring'' (1979); '' Hammer House of Horror'' (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 Bravo'' ...

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

'' in 1982 Dean played the role of a police constable in '' Shine on Harvey Moon'' and, in 1983, he was cast as Sergeant Jack Wilding in '' Woodentop '' (the Pilot of ITV 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'' (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 ...

'' (1979), ''

Sweet William Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, keto ...

'' (1980), '' The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu'' (1980), '' P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang'' (1982), and as a bouncer in '' The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle'' (1980). In 1984, at the invitation of producer Julia Smith, he was offered the role of Pete Beale, 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 G ...

) was selected to play the character Den Watts 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 ...

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 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 ...

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!'', '' Banzai'' and '' Little Britain''. He appeared in the Five television show '' Harry and Cosh'' 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-speakin ...

s. In 1993 he was due to tour in the play '' Entertaining Mr Sloane'' 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 ''Only ...

. 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, 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 m ...

, 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 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 le ...

. 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 resurgen ...

References

External links

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