Michael Reid

Michael ReidMichael Reid (19 January 1940 – 29 July 2007) was an English comedian and character actor, hailing from Hackney in East London, who is best remembered for playing the role of Frank Butcher in EastEnders and hosting the popular children’s TV show Runaround. He was also noted for his gravelly voice and strong Cockney accent.
Michael Reid was born in Hackney, East London in 1940 during World Michael ReidWar II, and the Blitz bombings of Central London caused him and his family to relocate to Tottenham, North London, where he attended Rowland Hill School.
In 1958, he married his first wife, Sheila, and they had a daughter, Jane. They divorced in 1967, after which he married Shirley (née Collins) in 1971 and had two sons, Michael and Mark and a daughter, Angela (who in 2008 the press claimed to be a British National Party activist), however the rumour appeared unfounded. In 1985 his son Mark Edward accidentally shot dead his best friend and five years later he committed suicide aged 24 in Colchester, Essex, by setting himself on fire. Shortly after his son’s death, Reid’s granddaughter Kirsty Anne – Michael ReidMark’s daughter – died in her cot in Colchester, aged just six months.
Mike had moved to a villa in Marbella, Spain so he could live close to a golf course which would enable him to pursue his passion of playing golf three to four times each week.
Reid was known to be opposed to plans to introduce blasphemy laws, for the effect this would have on satire, comedy and free speech.
Reid was good friends with fellow actor and stand up comedian Freddie Starr; together they introduced their sometime-bodyguard, the bareknuckle fighter Lenny McLean, to acting. McLean went on to star in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.