Pete Beale

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Hero Overview Gallery

Do-gooder
Full Name	Peter Beale
Alias(es)	Pete Beale Mr. Beale
Origin	EastEnders
Occupation	Resident of Albert Square Market trader
Powers / Skills	High Intelligence Intimidation Charisma Resourcefulness
Hobby	Spending quality time with his beloved wife Kathy Beale and their son Ian Clashing with his enemies such as James Willmott-Brown and Nick Cotton Arguing with his ex-spouse Pat Butcher Hanging out with his family and closest friends
Goals	Salvage his marriage with Kathy following her rape ordeal by James Willmott-Brown (failed)
Family	Albert Beale (father; deceased) Lou Beale (mother; deceased) Kenny Beale (brother) Pauline Fowler (twin sister; deceased) Arthur Fowler (brother-in-law; deceased) Michelle Fowler (niece) Mark Fowler (eldest nephew; deceased) Martin Fowler (youngest nephew) Pat Butcher (first wife; deceased) David Wicks (second son) Kathy Beale (second wife) Ian Beale (second son)
Friends / Allies	Den Watts (best friend; deceased) Angie Watts (deceased) Simon Wicks Lofty Holloway
Enemies	Pat Butcher (sometimes; deceased) James Willmott-Brown (archenemy) Nick Cotton (deceased) Alfie Chapman
Type of Hero	Protective Protagonist

Pete Beale is a fictional character and primary protagonist of the BBC British soap opera EastEnders.

He was one of the show's original characters who debuted in the very first episode dated 19th February 1985 and ended up becoming one of the leading central protagonists up until his departure on 13th May 1993 before later getting axed off-screen and ultimately killed-off seven months later towards the end of the latter year.

The character was portrayed by Peter Dean.

Biography

Pete Beale was born on the 11th March 1945, conceived by parents Albert and Lou respectively. It was then Pete's twin sister, Pauline, was born just five minutes later - thereby making the pair twins as they ended up getting raised in Number 45 Albert Square throughout their would-be lives.

By the time Pete had grown up, his father had been running a fruit and veg stall in Walford - a fictional borough in East London - around the square's market area. Pete often helped out at the stall until his father died, after which Pete himself inherited the stall. During his time at school, Pete befriended his classmate Den Watts and the two would become close associates around the time they became next-door neighbours as well. Shortly afterwards, Pete had a one-night stand with prostitute Pat Harris and they ended up getting married at a young age after she became pregnant. Pat later gave birth to two boys, David and Simon, not long afterwards; David turned out to be Pete's son, whereas Simon wasn't despite Pete being led to believe otherwise.

It was then Pete's marriage with Pat broke up after she cheated on him twice, first by sleeping with Den behind his back and later having a fling with Pete's brother Kenny. Years later, Pete met a woman named Kathy Hills and the two got married before she conceived their son named Ian. The three settled their life in the square by the time February 1985 came, during which Pete still remain close friends with Den to the point of spending quality time with his wife Angie and their adopted daughter Sharon at the same time.

As the year 1985 went on for months, Pete clashed with local villain Nick Cotton for causing trouble around the square and manipulating his mother Dot into believing that he is a good boy. Soon enough Nick did a break-in at a surgery to steal drugs and came across highly confidential patient records, one of which had belonged to Kathy. It was then Nick began blackmailing Kathy over the fact that she had been sexually abused as a child in the past; Kathy eventually told her secret to Pete, who comforted his wife and brutally attacked Nick in retribution. When Nick continued to terrorize the residents, however, Pete teamed up with Den and together they forced Nick to leave the square for a while.

In 1986, Pete was unhappy when Pat arrived on the square to demand a payment for their divorce settlement. They rowed many times and soon enough Pat told Pete that he was not Simon's father. Pete then learned about her fling with Kenny and confronted him about it, but the brothers made amends with each other and they decided to confront Pat themselves over Simon's parentage. It later transpired that Simon's biological father was actually Pat's abusive ex-husband, Brian Wicks.

Two years later in 1988, Pete's marriage with Kathy was in trouble when she began working for Den's business rival James Willmott-Brown at his wine bar - though Pete was mainly unhappy with this because he believed James would seduce Kathy due to her spending too much time with her boss rather than her husband. Pete's assumptions were seemingly correct, but then James invited Kathy to have a drink with him one night and he ended up raping her after she rejected his advances. Pete found out what had happened and was devastated to hear about Kathy's rape. He wanted revenge on James for Kathy's ordeal, but reluctantly opted to see James be taken to trial instead; James was found guilty of raping Kathy and later sentenced to three years in prison, only to later get released early on at the start of 1992.

By then, Pete's marriage with Kathy was never the same again following her rape ordeal. The situation worsened when James reappeared on the square to try and harass Kathy. Then when Pete found out, he set out to confront James - taking along Ian along with his old acquaintance Big Ron as well as Pat's new husband Frank Butcher for assistance as well. Pete manages to force James to sign papers saying he would leave the square forever, but then James later takes out an injunction on Pete in retaliation; Pete later beat up James for continuing to pester Kathy behind his back. When Kathy found out about the extent of the situation Pete and James are inflicting upon her, she decided to confront the two archenemies at the same time - both of which would depend on whether her marriage with Pete would be saved for good and to also put her ordeal with James to bed once and for all. Kathy summoned Pete and together they confronted James at his house. They successfully forced James to leave the square, but Pete is left heartbroken when Kathy tells him their marriage is over for good.

Following the break-up of his marriage with Kathy and her ordeal with James respectively, Pete had trouble moving forward but remained on close terms with Kathy. They were both apprehensive of Ian's relationship with his girlfriend Cindy Williams, but the pair nevertheless married despite Cindy cheating on Ian with Simon earlier on. Pete also supported Kathy's new relationship with fellow hardman Phil Mitchell, up to the point where he befriended him and the latter's brother Grant Mitchell as well.

Soon in 1993, Pete found himself reacquainted with his old schoolfriend Rose Hickey. He is shocked to learn that she recently married a notorious gangster named Alfie Chapman, but nonetheless began a secret relationship with her after she turned to him for support over Alfie's volatile nature. In May 1993, Pete decided to flee the square with Rose after her husband and his crime family found out about their secret romance; the couple departed after Pete said goodbye to his family along with both Kathy and Ian respectively.

Following Pete's departure, he and Rose went on the run from Alfie and his crime family. This seemingly ended when Alfie died from cancer, but then his crime family took retribution by arranging a car crash to eliminate the couple; this was successful as Pete was caught in the crash and killed alongside Rose themselves. Pete's death was announced to Pauline no sooner after his grandchildren, Peter and Lucy, were born; Kathy and Ian saw their celebrations with the births of both Peter and Lucy cut short when Pauline informed them of Pete's death, leaving the pair devastated by the news. In December 1993, Pete's funeral took place and he was buried in Walford Cemetery; shortly afterwards, David arrived on the square and made a living for himself whilst learning about the impact Pete had on the square at the time.

Trivia

• He made a total of 670 appearances throughout his time on the show.
  • In actuality he appeared in 669 episodes, but made a voiceover appearance on 10th April 1998 that surrounded the exit of his former on-screen wife Kathy Beale at the time.