- Bill Treacher
Bill Treacher (born
4 June ,1930 inLondon ) is an Englishactor .Treacher grew up in the
East End of London . After hisNational Service in theRoyal Air Force , he worked as a steward with "P&O ", where he saved enough money to attend drama school.cite book |last= Kingsley|first= Hilary|title= The EastEnders Handbook |year=1990|publisher=BBC books|id=ISBN-13: 978-0685529577]After graduating from the prestigious
Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art , he made his West End debut in 1963 with the comedy "Shout for Life " atThe Vaudeville Theatre . Several successful West End roles followed before he moved into television drama, making guest appearances in a number of classic series of the 1970s including "Minder", "The Sweeney ", "The Professionals", "Dixon of Dock Green ", "Z-Cars " and "The Agatha Christie Hour ".In late 1984, he was the first
actor to be cast in theBBC soap opera "EastEnders ", appearing in the first episode on19 February 1985 asArthur Fowler , a role that he would play for the next 11 years. In fact the co-creators,Tony Holland andJulia Smith , had scripted the character with Treacher in mind.cite book |last=Smith|first= Julia|authorlink= Julia Smith|coauthors=Holland, Tony|title= EastEnders - The Inside Story |year=1987|publisher=Book Club Associates|id=ISBN 0-563-20601-2] He received much critical acclaim for the role, especially for his portrayal of his character's mental decline and subsequentnervous breakdown . The character also endured a succession of misfortunates, not least his wrongful imprisonment for afraud that he didn't commit, a persistent struggle withunemployment , his daughter Michelle'spregnancy at the age of 16, and his son Mark's diagnosis withHIV .By 1996, he had requested to be written out of the series, stating "By the time I finished, even the sound of the theme music was making me feel ill. I felt depressed." He also stated in a 2003 BBC documentary where it was interviewing past stars of the show that he had to leave as the stress working the long hours on the show was affecting his health and that the doctors told him that if he didn't leave the job soon and relax it would kill him.
Although it was his decision to leave the soap, Treacher was shocked that the show’s bosses chose to kill Arthur off. He has said: "I certainly didn’t ask them to kill him. Oh no, because you never know, you might need to come back and earn a few grand."" [http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,5-2002290611,00.html D'Arthur to D'Artagnan] ", "The Sun". URL last accessed on
2006-10-21 .] Following his departure the British press alleged that Treacher and co-starWendy Richard (who played his wife Pauline) were involved in a feud that had lasted the entire eleven years of his stint. Treacher commented: "All I can say is that Wendy and I had a good professional relationship. We never met socially because we did not have a great deal in common."" [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_19960512/ai_n14451573 Bill Treacher and Wendy Richard's feud] ", "Sunday Mirror". URL last accessed on2006-10-21 .]Treacher has since made several films, most notably "
The Musketeer ", "Tale of the Mummy " and "George and the Dragon ". He also had a guest starring role in theITV police drama "The Bill " in 2006, and appeared as a Security Guard in an episode of Casualty in December 2007.He is married to the Australian actress
Katherine Kessey and they have two children, Jamie, also an actor, and Sophie, a production assistant. They live inSuffolk .In 1973, Treacher starred in a British television commercial for the
Austin Allegro motor car.References
External links
*imdb|id=0871547|name=Bill Treacher
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