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Michael Attwell
As Kenny Beale inEastEnders
Born	Michael John Attwell (1943-01-16)16 January 1943 Watford,Hertfordshire, England
Died	18 March 2006(2006-03-18) (aged 63) London, England
Years active	1968–2006
Children	3

Michael John Attwell (16 January 1943 – 18 March 2006) was an English film and television actor. He is possibly best known for his role asKenny Beale in the televisionsoap operaEastEnders.

Michael Attwell was born inWatford,Hertfordshire, on 16 January 1943.^[1]

After training atRADA (studying Stage Management^[2]), Attwell went into repertory theatre atNewcastle Playhouse. Among his theatrical appearances include playing Pharaoh inJoseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and Sky Masterson inGuys and Dolls (both atHaymarket Theatre).^[3]

In 1979 and 1980, he played Razor Eddie a.k.a. Edward Winston Malone in two series of the comedy-dramaTurtle's Progress. The character had originally been created for the ITV drama serialThe Hanged Man, where he was played byGareth Hunt.

In 1978, he playedBill Sikes in the revival ofLionel Bart's musicalOliver! at theAlbery Theatre and in 1985 he playedBill Sikes again in the BBC's Sunday afternoon classic serialOliver Twist.

His other TV credits include:Doctor Who (in the serialsThe Ice Warriors andAttack of the Cybermen),The First Churchills,Only Fools and Horses,Minder,Bergerac,C.A.T.S. Eyes,Wycliffe,Inspector Morse,Bugs,Silent Witness,Pie in the Sky,Casualty,The Bill,Hotel Babylon, andAre You Being Served?.

He appeared in the 1988 filmBuster, based on the life of theGreat Train RobberBuster Edwards.

To supplement his theatre income, Attwell produced cartoon strips forIPC andDC Thomson comics includingBunty,Buster,Whizzer and Chips andThe Hotspur.^[4] As well as acting, between 1981 and 1993 Attwell also had a considerable career as a political cartoonist for several British national newspapers includingThe Sun,The Sunday People and theNews of the World. A self-taught artist, Attwell signed himself asZoke, an amalgam of the names of his children Zoe and Jake.

In 2002 he played Kenneth in theWest End run ofDebbie Isitt'sThe Woman Who Cooked Her Husband atThe Ambassadors Theatre.^[5]

Attwell died in London on the 18 March 2006 aged 63 from complications following heart surgery.^[6] His life and work was honoured at theBritish Academy Television Awards in 2006.

• Michael Attwell atIMDb
• Michael Attwell at Theatricalia

• 1943 births
• 2006 deaths
• English male soap opera actors
• Male actors from Watford
• Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

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