Where is bill treacher now

He is best known for playing Arthur Fowler on the BBC soap opera EastEnders, for 11 years from to , He was also the first person on the show to be cast. Early life Treacher grew up in the East End of London.

Several successful West End roles followed. In late , he was the first actor to be cast in the BBC soap opera EastEnders , appearing in the first episode on 19 February as Arthur Fowler, a role he played for the next 11 years. In fact the co-creators, Tony Holland and Julia Smith, had scripted the character with Treacher in mind. Treacher admitted in that he was initially relucant to sign up for the show as it meant long hours and a sizeable commute to his family home in Suffolk but that he relented due to the chance of a steady income.

He received much critical acclaim for the role, especially for his portrayal of his character's mental decline and subsequent nervous breakdown. The character also endured a succession of misfortunes, a persistent struggle with unemployment, his daughter Michelle's pregnancy at the age of 16, his son Mark's diagnosis with HIV, and a midlife crisis where he had an affair which led to the breakdown of his marriage.

By , he had requested to be written out of the series, stating "By the time I finished, even the sound of the theme music was making me feel ill. I felt depressed. Although it was his decision to leave the soap, Treacher was shocked that the show's bosses chose to kill Arthur off.

He has said: "I certainly didn't ask them to kill him. Oh no, because you never know, you might need to come back and earn a few grand. In my day the storylines were bang on. I was lucky to be part of that. Bill Treacher, better known to many EastEnders fans as Arthur Fowler, left the soap almost two decades ago.

But now, as the show reaches its 30th anniversary, the year-old actor has revealed why he has been unable to work since leaving Walford.

Speaking with The Mirror, Bill explained that he is now battling ataxia, a degenerative disease that has robbed him of his balance and his ability to walk. However he confessed that he is happy with his lot,as, for a time, he feared his work on EastEnders would kill him. Suffering from three migraines a day, his vision was left blurry - and he was put on beta-blockers to help him cope with the stress. Let me go now. Asked whether EastEnders had put her on a retainer, Brown replied: "I don't want a retainer.

I've left. I've left for good. I've left EastEnders. The actress then returned from until but the buxom blonde couldn't stay away from Albert Square and rejoined the cast in Shazza is currently involved in a gripping storyline with Ian Beale, who confessed he was in love with her. It is never enough.

Played by Leslie Grantham, the pub landlord got his daughter's best friend pregnant and shoved wife Angie around. After getting shot dead and falling into a canal in , Dirty Den came back from the grave in In reality, Leslie's personal life contained as much drama as his characters.

A convicted murderer, he served a 10 year prison sentence for killing a West German taxi driver in Then in , the actor was caught in a sex scandal when an undercover reporter got footage of him exposing himself on webcam. Over 30 million viewers tuned in on Christmas Day to see Den hand Angie her divorce papers — and no soap episode has beaten that total since. Anita Dobson played the alcoholic landlady of the Queen Vic landlady until when she decided to leave.

During her time away from the square she released a rendition of the EastEnders theme tune called 'Anyone Can Fall In Love' that reached number four in the UK singles chart. Although EastEnders bosses pleaded with Anita to return to Walford they eventually gave up and Ang was killed off-screen of alcohol poisoning in Bill Treacher played Arthur Fowler for 11 years through his character's nervous breakdown, two prison spells and affair.

Doctors told Bill that the job would kill him if he didn't leave soon due to the gruelling hours and stress, so in Arthur was killed off. Bill is now 88, retired and living his best life in Suffolk — whether he has an allotment is unknown.

Ultimately the two best boys in EastEnders history — Roly was the Watts family's beloved poodle, and Willy was Ethel's adorable pug.