Bill Treacher, who played Arthur Fowler in EastEnders, has died at age 92.
The news was announced by his family on Tuesday (8 November), who said that he died on Saturday 5 November after suffering from ill health.
Treacher made his debut on EastEnders in its very first episode in February 1985. He was one of the first actors to be cast in the soap and stayed in the role until Arthur’s death in 1996.
In a statement, the actor’s family said that his health had been declining for “some time”.
“Bill was a brilliant actor and a wonderful husband and father, plus a very fine human being. He will be hugely missed,” the message read.
They added that he “was much loved by his wife, Kate, his son, Jamie and his daughter, Sophie”.
Arthur was married to Pauline in the soap, who was played by the late Wendy Richard, who died in 2009.
An EastEnders spokesperson paid tribute in a statement made with “great sadness”.
“As one of our original cast members, Bill created a much-loved character in Arthur Fowler and, alongside Wendy Richard, they created an iconic family in the Fowlers who still remain at the heart of the show,” the statement reads.
Adam Woodyatt, who was also an original cast member in the soap as Ian Beale, has also commemorated his former colleague.
Woodyatt noted Treacher’s humour as a particular standout quality that he remembers. “So many memories of working with Bill, most of them involving him making us corpse,” he said in a statement.
“He would get this twinkle in his eye, you’d start laughing and he never got the blame. I used to love it when he was trying to remember his lines in rehearsal and he would just blunder and bluster until the correct word came out.”
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