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Lou Beale
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Anna Wing
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1985 – 1988
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1915
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Deceased
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Housewife
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Albert, Pauline , Pete , Kenny, Mark , Martin , Michelle , Vicki , Mark Jr, Ian , Elizabeth, Maggie
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was a
Fictional Character in the popular
BBC Soap Opera ''
EastEnders ''. She was played by
Anna Wing .
Lou was the archetypal East End matriarch throughout ''EastEnders''' first three years. An intimidating force within the local community, she was the dowager of the 'first family' of Albert Square,
The Beales And Fowlers . Never afraid to speak her mind and woe betide anyone who managed to get on her wrong side, Lou had the respect of her friends and family, even if they did find her a bit of a nuisance at times.
Lou Beale also featured in an 1988 ''EastEnders'' special
Civvy Street , set on Albert Square during the
Second World War . The character was played by
Karen Meagher with
Alison Bettles as
Ethel Skinner .
Lou Beale was the first ''Eastenders'' character to be created by series co-creator ''.
:''LOUISE (Lou) BEALE. A lively 70 year old. Archetypal East-end mother-earth figure. Fat, funny, sometimes loud, often openly sentimental. An obsessive view of family...she can be a stubborn cruel "old bag" when she wants to be, sometimes keeping "atmospheres" going for months. It was always Lou's house that was used for the big family celebrations. Especially Christmas. Twenty or more people crammed into a tiny house. Five sisters wedged into a miniscule kitchen; drinking gin and orange; wearing funny hats; all wearing aprons; laughing raucously and trying to cook a huge dinner at the same time. Lou's house was also the meeting place for the family Sunday teas. Ham, or tinned salmon salad. Bread and butter. Jelly and tinned cream. And, tea...The changing face of the area (especially the immigrants) is a constant source of fear to her. but then she doesn't go out much. She prefers to be at home, or on a trip down memory lane: day trips to Southend - the Kursal, Rossi's ice-cream and a plate of cockles; one wonderful week's holiday in a caravan in Clacton; fruit picking in Essex; Chrsitmas; weddings; street parites...She has a soft spot for her son, Pete...'
Lou was a true
East-End girl and lived in
Walford all her life. Albert and Lou were childhood sweethearts and they came to their house on the corner
Albert Square , Number Forty-Five, in the
1930s . Lou remained in the house throughout the
Second World War and brought up three children there. Her affinity and ties with the area meant that she tended to view Albert Square as her own and that gave her an excuse to intrude into anyone's business as she saw fit.
Lou was mother to
Kenny and twins
Pete and
Pauline . Two other children, Maureen and Ronnie, died in infancy. After the untimely death of her beloved husband, she remained in the house on Albert Square with her daughter's family; son-in-law
Arthur Fowler and grandchidren
Michelle and
Mark . Kenny emmigrated to
New Zealand in the
1960s and so it was left to Pauline and Pete to tend to their mum's welfare in her old-age. The Beales had been running the fruit and veg stall on Bridge Street
Market for generations; an 'honour' that was passed to Pete upon his father Albert's death.
Lou was great friends with
Dot Cotton and
Ethel Skinner , her life-long neighbours. She also had a good relationship with local man
Dr Legg and the old
Jewish Pawnbroker ,
'Uncle' .
She had a tempestuous relationship with son-in-law Arthur; nothing he did was ever good enough for her daughter Pauline. In February
1985 , she was furious to discover that Pauline had fallen pregnant for the third time, her family already crippled by Arthur's long stint of unemployment. Lou wasn't adverse to speaking her mind or scolding her family if she disapproved of their actions; although she soon came to celebrate her grandson
Martin's , birth. She was a strict traditionalist and moralist but she believed in strong family-values most of all, and would defend her family to the hilt if any outsider dared to criticise. She provided a warm shoulder to cry on when Michelle found out she was pregnant in the Autumn of
1985 and was supportive of her favourite grandchild
Ian , when he announced his plans to become a chef rather than following in his father's footsteps.
The youngest of five sisters, Lou was from a large East-end family herself. Only her sister Flo came to outlive her.
Lou had a long standing fued with Pete's ex-wife
Pat , who she had never forgiven for betraying her son, with his older brother Kenny. After banishing Kenny from their lives, Lou was plagued with mixed-feelings when he returned to
London in
1988 . She had always had a difficult relationship with her eldest son, feeling him to be 'too big for the Square'. Kenny was shocked by the revelation that Pat had claimed him to be the real father of Pete's son,
Simon Wicks . Before his return to New Zealand, Lou managed to make ammends with her estranged son, despite Pat's malicious stirring - who later admitted to Simon that Brian Wicks was his real father after all.
In July 1988, Lou returned from a holiday in her beloved
Leigh-on-Sea feeling distinctly out of sorts. Sensing her own demise, she took the opportunity to announce to her nearest-and-dearest exactly what she thought of them; even managing to make a truce of sorts with arch-nemesis Pat. After gathering her clan of Beales and Fowlers around her, she had a few choice words of wisdom and encouragement for each family-member. The next morning, she was discovered dead in her bed by daughter Pauline, having passed away peacefully in her sleep the previous night. Her friends and family mourned her passing affectionately, never quite managing to forget the irreplacable 'old bag'.
Since her death, Pauline has struggled to live up to her mother's reputation as battle-axe of Albert Square and Lou would surely be turning in her grave if she knew what was left of her beloved family today.
In
1997 , it was discovered that Lou had given birth to another daughter, also Albert's, who Lou had given up for adoption after she was conceived out of wedlock. Pauline, Ian and Mark travelled to Ireland later that year to reunite with their long-lost family member,
Maggie Flaharty .
- Husband: ''Albert Beale'' (deceased)
- Daughters: '' Pauline Fowler '', '' Maggie Flaherty '', ''Maureen Beale'' (deceased)
- Sons: '' Pete Beale '' (deceased), '' Kenny Beale '', ''Ronnie Beale'' (deceased)
- Sisters: ''Flo'', ''Mabel''
- Grandsons: '' Mark Fowler '' (deceased), '' Martin Fowler '', '' Conor Flaherty '', '' Ian Beale '', '' David Wicks '', '' Simon Wicks '', '' Eamonn Flaherty ''
- Grandaughters: '' Michelle Fowler '', '' Elizabeth Beale ''
- Great-grandchildren: '' Rebecca Miller '', '' Mary Flaherty '', '' Lucy Beale '', '' Peter Beale '', '' Bobby Beale '', '' Joe Wicks '', ''Karen Wicks'' (deceased), '' Bianca Jackson '', '' Steven Beale '', '' Vicki Fowler '', ''Mark Fowler Jr.'', '' Colette Flaherty '', '' Eamonn Flaherty Jr. ''
- Great-great-grandchildren: '' Liam Butcher '', ''Natasha Butcher'' (deceased)
45 Albert Square
The Fowler/Beale Family
