Big Mo Harris is firmly established as an EastEnders legend.
The iconic character was played by Laila Morse and arrived in Albert Square back in 2000.
Mo had previously lived in Walford and returned after 40 years away with son-in-law Charlie Slater and granddaughters Lynne, Kate, Little Mo and Zoe.
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She immediately reignited her rivalry with Pat Butcher before they emotionally reconciled at the grave of Mo's ex-husband, Jimmy Harris.
Mo proceeded to take part in some of the soap's most famous storylines as the Slater matriarch tried her best to keep the family together.
The character is one of the most recognisable faces in soap history, but Laila's career almost took a completely different path as she only made her professional acting debut in the 1997 film Nil By Mouth.
She was aged 51 years old when she debuted on the screen in the BAFTA award-winning movie, which earned her the 'Most Promising Newcomer in any Category' gong at the British Independent Film Awards.
Nil By Mouth was the first film directed by Laila's famous brother, who is the Oscar-winning actor Gary Oldman.
Laila's real name is actually Maureen Oldman - and was given her stage name by the iconic actress Isabella Rossellini, who her brother dated in the 90s.
Laila Morse is an anagram of 'mia sorella', which is Italian for "my sister".
Laila went on a separate path to her famous brother as she left school without qualifications and became pregnant at 17.
She married Gerald Bromfield and shared two children before the relationship ended.
Laila told the Mirror she then fell for a possessive love cheat she calls “George”, who she says beat her for years. She later married Jimmy Bass but they divorced after nine years in 2003.
Once Laila got her break in the industry, she didn't look back and her career went from strength-to-strength before being cast as the iconic Big Mo.
Away from the screen, she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003 and credits co-star Wendy Richard for saving her life
She said: "I found this lump and I thought: ‘Ah, it can’t be much.’ So I went into work and I told Wendy Richard and she said: ‘Go to the doctor, I don’t like the sound of that. I’m going on holiday, so when I come back the first thing I’m gonna do is ring you up and find out if you went.’
"Anyway, I didn’t go. When she came back, she rang me and said: ‘Have you been to the doctor’s?’ and I went: ‘Erm, yeah, he didn’t say much.’ That’s all I said and I thought: ‘I ought to go,’ so I did. He wrote a note and within two weeks I’d had the test done, a mammogram, and I had breast cancer."
Laila had the lymph nodes removed and participated in The Real Full Monty last year to raise awareness about the importance of getting checked by a doctor.
She added: "And then my sister got it and then my friend got it - and then Wendy died from the second lot of cancer she had.
"And I think if it hadn’t been for her, I don’t think I would be here today really. I’m doing this so everybody knows to get it checked up."
Laila continued to be a major character in EastEnders until her permanent contract ended in 2012, which she described as a "slap in the face".
Although the actress still appeared sporadically in the soap, she faced financial difficulty after her contract finished and declared herself bankrupt in 2013.
She said: “When they announced the bankruptcy I felt shame. I felt disgraced. You don’t want to go out anywhere or see anybody. You feel people are looking at you.”
Laila eventually overcame her financial struggles and appeared on popular shows such as I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.
The 76-year-old quit EastEnders for good last year, but the character was not killed off and an EastEnders spokesperson said she could return in the future.
They said: "Just like many occasions before, Big Mo will be departing Walford. But as always, she’ll no doubt be back in the not too distant future."
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