Who is Gary Beadle? Death in Paradise actor who played Paul Trueman in EastEnders — all you need to know
NOT to be confused with reality star Gaz Beadle, Gary Beadle is best known for playing Paul Trueman in EastEnders from 2001 to 2004.
The Londoner is starring in the sixth series of Death in Paradise, the hit BBC comedy-drama about a British police inspector on a Caribbean island.
Here's what else we know about Gary Beadle.
Back to the beginning
Gary Beadle was born in January 1965, in London, England.
He grew up in Bermondsey, South London, one of five kids.
Gary caught the acting bug early, along with his brother Rikki; as kids the pair produced a version of the 1976 gangster movie Bugsy Malone for their local council.
An ambitious Rikki wanted to invite Alan Parker, the film's writer and director, to the performance, so he rang up every single Alan Parker in the phone book and eventually got through to his office.
Mr Parker didn't come, but his assistant did. Gary : "She saw me, my brother, my sister and a couple of other kids, and came to the conclusion that we were good enough to go to this school in North London called Anna Scher, which was a very good, famous drama school for underprivileged kind of kids. They had to wait three or four years to get in. We got fast-tracked through because they saw something in us.”
Acting saved me ’cause I came from a rough neighbourhood. I could have gone the other way. I know lots of friends that did, so I’m fortunate
New York state of mind
In his early twenties, Gary moved to New York City, where he nurtured a passion for hip hop – he loved Run-D.M.C. and the Sugarhill Gang.
When he returned to London, he started rapping with his best friend. He : "We were called the City Limits Crew. We were dressed up like 1940s gangsters. We used to go to shows with costumes and everything. We just loved it."
Comic chops
Gary also worked as a comedian, one half of an act called Swift + 2 Club Bouncers.
Once, they performed at a famine relief show, which he described as a "posh do with numbered tables". The audience included Neil Kinnock, Billy Ocean and members of the Royal Family – unbeknownst to Gary and his partner.
Gary : "We did this really hardcore act which involved a gay sergeant major, a cucumber and a kinky private. It was a well kinky sketch. At end there was no laughter – you could hear a pin drop. The organisers were livid."
Trueman show
Gary built up a long list of telly credits, including the roles of Gary Barwick in Operation Good Guys and Edina's ex-husband Oliver in Absolutely Fabulous, before landing a the part of Paul Trueman on EastEnders in 2001.
Fans loved the misunderstood bad boy, and Gary called his experience on the soap "life changing" – but he was happy to leave when his contract was up and his character killed off.
For one, Gary was disappointed that his character had become a drug dealer.
He at the time: "I hate the storyline, I'm really not happy about it. It's so unimaginative, full of stereotypes – black people and drugs, blah, blah, blah. Any scenes involving drugs, you can rest assured I hated filming them. I just knew Paul wouldn't do that – it's not his style. Once they started changing my character so dramatically, I knew I'd made the right decision to leave."
Not one to rest on his laurels, the star also wanted to take on other challenges, : "If you harbour any ambitions at EastEnders you can’t do anything else, so you just live a life of frustrations – you either leave or you stay."
He added: "I embrace the fact that everybody's going to know me from EastEnders. Part of my challenge is to change it. My quest is just to show I can do lots of different things."
Paradise calls
After a series of other gigs on telly, in film and onstage, Gary will now appear in the sixth series of Death in Paradise, set in the Caribbean.
He plays Samuel Palmer, a friend of the latest murder victim.
He describes Sam as an "ex-crim gone straight", telling : “He’s a local boy, he grew up on the island and is a bit of a tearaway. He’s a reformed character, though, who wants to live an honest existence and finds himself caught up in this terrible situation."
Love and marriage
Gary wed his long-term girlfriend Tanya Findel-Hawkins in 2003, but the pair have since split. They share two sons, Cassius and Louis-Rae.
Romantically Gary has also been linked to a string of other women, including glamour model Alicia Douvall and his EastEnders co-stars Jessie Wallace, Charlie Brooks and Elaine Lordan.
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