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Mike Reid

Published Tuesday 14 August 2007 at 13:45 by Patrick Newley

Stand-up comedian Mike Reid found fame playing the role of gruff-voiced second-hand car dealer Frank Butcher in the BBC soap EastEnders. He joined the show in 1987, quickly turning Frank into one of the soap’s most popular characters. After taking a couple of lengthy breaks from the show, he made his last appearance as Frank in 2005.

Reid was born on January 19, 1940 in Hackney, the son of a lorry driver. He left school at 15 to work as a coalman and after a variety of jobs including working as a merchant seaman and a bricklayer, he fell into bad company. He claimed in his 1999 autobiography to have had a criminal past as a member of a London gang, rubbing shoulders with gangsters such as Reggie and Ronnie Kray and doing time in Brixton prison.   

He began his showbusiness career as a comedian and singer in London clubs and pubs. He later became a stuntman working on films such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines and Spartacus. He was a stunt double for Roger Moore in The Saint and had small acting roles in Doctor Who.

His big break came in the early seventies when he was one of the original stars of ITV’s The Comedians, performing alongside Bernard Manning and Colin Crompton. He was known for his aggressive style of joke-telling and his catchphrase “Terr-i-fic”. He capitalised on his success with a one-hit record, a novelty version of The Ugly Duckling.

He moved into children’s TV to manage the hectic game show, Runaround, and later played Arthur Mullard’s brother in Yus My Dear. He appeared in the TV drama Big Deal and hosted his own variety series, Mike Reid’s Mates, Entertainment Express and Mike Reid’s Late Home Video Show.

International fame came in 1987 with EastEnders and as Frank Butcher, his on-off relationship with Pat Evans, played by Pam St Clement, was one of the key storylines of the soap. The characters married in 1989, after they had taken over the Queen Vic pub in Albert Square. But after a breakdown, Frank left Pat and the Square in 1994, only to return two years later when he eventually married Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor). He ended up cheating on her - with Pat.

After leaving EastEnders, Reid went on to star in the gangster movie, Snatch, directed by Guy Ritchie. He also returned to stand-up, both in cabaret and in a series of adult-rated videos. In 2007 he guest starred in two episodes of the long-running ITV police drama series The Bill, in which he played corrupt businessman Brian Stevens.

Reid’s personal life had been marred by tragedy. His son Mark committed suicide in 1990 after a row with his girlfriend. The 24-year-old had been suffering from depression after being convicted of manslaughter after killing a pal in a mock duel in 1986. Four months later came the cot death of Reid’s granddaughter - Mark’s daughter - a twin aged 23 weeks. His wife Shirley had tried to kill herself in the seventies after Reid discovered she had been unfaithful. He later said the near-tragedy “only made us closer”.

Reid died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Spain on July 30, aged 67.

He had married twice, first to Sheila in 1958, with whom he had a daughter, Jane. They divorced in 1967, after which he married Shirley Collins in 1971. They had two sons, Michael and Mark.

Windsor said: “I had some of my best scenes in EastEnders with Mike. He really brought out the best in me. He was a wonderful man and he always had a mischievous twinkle in his eye.”

St Clement added: “Mike was larger than life - both as a person and a character. He seemed indestructible, which is why his death is even more of a terrible shock.”

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