Television and radio Late change for genuine Cockney

Press, 26 January 1988, Page 11

Television and radio

Late change for genuine Cockney

By

JUDY BYRNE

Cockney charmer Peter Dean is the living proof that it is never too late to change direction. His professional life began to take off at nearly 40 and has really hit the big time at almost 50. And he was in his late thirties before he even gave acting a serious try. Peter, who plays stallholder Pete Beale in “East Enders is one of the genuine cockneys in the show. He is even a genuine stall-holder from way back. But he went into printing first when he left school at 15. That bored him so he moved on to a holiday camp as a waiter who often got up on stage with the entertainers just for the fun of it after he had finished work for the day. Next, he worked on the ferry boats to Jersey — and joined in the shows on board. In the end, it seemed time to settle down. Peter bought a shoe shop and stall at Petticoat Lane, London. It gave him financial security. But it also left him with too much free time. He needed another outlet. Then fate walked in — in the form of actress Prunella Scales who played Sybil Fawlty of “Fawlty Towers.” Peter’s grandmother had also given him a crash course in Shakespeare as a boy. She had taught him some of her favourite bits. Prunella was amazed to discover Peter drawing the crowds around his market stall and amusing himself by giving recitals of short extracts from Shakespeare in the middle of his sales spiel. She encouraged him to try to get into acting. Peter was still a parttime student at drama school when he auditioned for a small part in the series “Law and Order” — and walked away with the lead. The script was strong meat — guaranteed to stir up waves of anger from police and prison officers who felt it showed the law

as corrupt and brutal. And it did. But all that meant to Peter was that his triumph as the unknown who had turned in a powerful and immensely moving performance did not go unnoticed. For the next eight years, he was always the hard man, never the nice guy. Nor was he the big star. He played alongside such actors as Dennis Waterman, Trevor Eve and Patrick Mower. . The role of Pete Beale in “East Enders was the first time anyone had wanted him to be nice. "I’m the Bobby Ewing of ‘EastEnders’,” he used to say with a grin. In real life Peter is a real romantic. After four years of marriage to his second wife, Jean, he often buys her flowers and leaves love notes for her all over the house. If he arrives on the set in a bad mood he does not take it out on his fellow actors — he retreats to his dressing room and chants. For Peter, son of a Catholic father and Jewish mother, has been converted to Buddhism. He says: “The fantastic thing about it is the way it has really helped me to calm down. In the bad old days I would have taken a foul mood out on the rest of the cast. Now I just slip out and chant my mantras.”

On “East Enders he soon discovered he shared his Eastern faith with Oscar James, who played Tony Carpenter. They got into the habit of praying together when they could. And Peter had not been in the serial long before he found himself really needing his faith and that friendship. His'wife, Jean, became seriously ill. She had a series of painful operations and her weight went down to a desperate 35kg. Peter was going out of his mind with worry. He began hitting the bottle and forgetting his. lines. He told no-one but Oscar James, though Leslie Grantham, who' plays Dirty Den, confronted him and persuaded him to tell him, too. Dean will never forget that. “He was incredibly supportive,” he says. “And he was so caring. He and Oscar really helped me through that time when I felt I would go under.” Their story had been pure romance, before illness struck. They had met 20-odd years earlier, when Jean was babysitting for one of Peter’s mates. Peter had married and divorced meanwhile. He had a daughter, Leah, now 19. And he admits he had been a bit of a lad after his first marriage ended. Then he walked into a pub with a girl and saw Jean again. He says: "I know it sounds corny but she was different somehow. She had a special quality I liked. We started going out together. “I remember my dad saying that of all the people I’d brought home, she was the best thing to walk through the door. He told me before he died if I ever played her around he’d come back and strangle me.” There is a 14 year age gap between them. But it is not something they have ever bothered about. “We’ve never even discussed it,” he says. —DUO copyright.