PAT BUTCHER is one of the most iconic characters to have graced Albert Square.
The EastEnders legend lived an extremely colourful life and was one of the BBC soap’s longest-running characters before she was killed off in 2012.
Pat Butcher, played by Pam St Clement, is one of the most iconic characters to have featured on BBC Soap EastEnders
Who was Pat Butcher in EastEnders?
Pat Butcher made her debut on EastEnders on June 12, 1986.
She went on to appear on screen for 25 years and six months on the programme.
Before her arrival in Albert Square, she was married to Ian Beale’s dad – Pete Beale – between 1961 and 1966 and Brian Wicks between 1966 and 1989.
Pat became known for her impressive earring collection, as well as her friendship-turned-rivalry with Peggy Mitchell (played by Barbara Windsor).
Why did Pat leave EastEnders?
Pat left EastEnders as the actress who played her, Pam St Clement decided to leave the soap.
After her exit, St Clement revealed that she didn’t actually want her character to be killed off – and had been promised that she wouldn’t be.
“It was very, very difficult. I was saying goodbye to a character I’d inhabited for almost 26 years and, while I had chosen to leave EastEnders, I didn’t want Pat to die,” she told The Mirror in 2015.
“I was adamant there should be a chance for her to return and had been assured by the executive producer she wouldn’t be axed…I went away feeling empty and let down,” she added.
What happened to Pat Butcher in EastEnders?
Throughout her 25 years in EastEnders, Pat Butcher was at the centre of many dramatic storylines.
She had two sons – David and Simon – from her previous marriages to Pete Beale and Brian Wicks when she arrived in Walford.
But despite her romances with Pete and Brian, it was Frank Butcher, played by Mike Reid, who was Pat’s biggest love was and she was delighted when they moved into The Vic together in 1989.
Pat sets up a taxi firm called PatCabs but ended up in prison for six months after knocking down and killing a teenage girl while driving over the limit on Christmas Eve.
After splitting from Frank, Pat began a romance with new man Roy Evans and later married him.
She still couldn’t resist her ex-husband, however, and began an affair with Frank four years later.
Roy discovered the affair but the couple managed to eventually work things out, before Roy then died in 2003.
Pat was cut out of Roy’s will by his son Barry, played by Shaun Williamson.
She was later forced to implicate Frank’s daughter Janine Butcher, played by Charlie Brooks, at Barry’s murder trial after she killed him in an iconic scene.
Pat and Peggy Mitchell’s rivalry provided much entertainment throughout the years, after the pair become involved in a bitter feud with each other when Frank had an affair with Peggy.
The love triangle is often cited as the most famous in EastEnders history.
How did Pat Butcher die in EastEnders?
In 2010, Pat suffered a heart attack and was forced to get a pacemaker in order to regulate her heart beat.
Just over a year later, she was rushed to hospital after collapsing on the floor and, though doctors were concerned, she secretly discharged herself.
Pat continued to experience more horrific chest pains and eventually visited a doctor once again, where she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Sadly, Pat discovered the cancer had already vastly spread around most of her body.
Pat died peacefully on New Year‘s Day 2012, surrounded by all her loved ones.
Who played Pat Butcher in EastEnders?
Pat Butcher was played by Pam St Clement.
The actress was born on May 11, 1942.
Pam is bisexual but is known to be a very private person who seldom speaks about her personal life.
During the 1960s she was married to a man named Andrew Gordon, but they divorced in 1976.
What happened to Pam St Clement?
Since leaving EastEnders, Pam St Clement has starred in several TV shows.
She has had guest appearances on shows like Loose Women, and took part in the 2017 series Gone to Pot: American Road Trip, about a group of celebrities who travel to find medical marijuana.
In April 2018Â Pam appeared in an advert for SafeGlaze UK windows.
In the promo, she starred as both her EastEnders character Pat and “herself”.
In 2014 Pam reprised her role as Pat, along with other women from Ian Beale’s past, in a dream sequence for a Children in Need special.
 She also made a return as a hallucination for Peggy Mitchell’s death in May 2016.
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