EASTENDERS’ die-hard fans will well remember the beloved character Pete Beale who ran Albert Square’s fruit and veg stall.
But the actor who played the patriarch of the Beale family left the soap in 1993, and now lives a VERY different lifestyle.
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Former soap star Peter Dean, now 83, was on the BBC soap right from the beginning back in 1985, before he decided to leave for good eight years later.
To fans, the TV star is best remembered as EastEnders’ cockney market stall trader, and dad to Ian Beale, who was known for his catchphrase: “Alright treacle!”.
But after leaving life on the square, Peter, who grew up in Hoxton in East London, ditched acting for good.
In fact he is a now a practising Buddhist who, after quitting EastEnders, worked as a security guard, and also in a furniture yard.
The former soap star became a Jack of all trades after quitting acting, and was also a painter and a decorator.
Peter shot to fame playing criminal Jack Lynn in Law And Order in 1978 as well as starring in television shows such as Minder, Shoestring, Hammer House of Horror and The Chinese Detective.
He got the role of Pete Beale when the late Leslie Grantham, who had also auditioned for the part, was given Den Watts instead.
But Peter eventually departed from the soap when his character was suddenly killed off in a car crash.
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Pete Beale’s demise came about after things reportedly “turned sour” on set.
This came after the actor slammed producers in public, so ultimately his contract was terminated due to “irreconcilable differences”.
Speaking to Loose Women, Peter previously said: “The producer called me in and said, ‘The writers can’t find anything for you to do.’
“So I said, ‘Well get rid of the writers. Life’s simple when it’s logical.’
“But of course it was already set. EastEnders is EastEnders. The real East End has changed.”
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