Stars mourn Eastender Mike Reid

Stars lined up to pay tribute to “storyteller, gentleman and family man” Mike Reid.

Reid, best known for his role as EastEnders’ Frank Butcher, was apparently in good health before his “sudden” heart attack in Spain yesterday, from which he died.

Close friend of the actor and fellow comedian Frank Carson, speaking from Spain, had only just heard of his death and said it was “absolutely devastating”.

Clearly emotional, Mr Carson said: “Goodness me, this is absolutely devastating. We have just lost our friend Bernard Manning a fortnight ago. I just can’t realise… this is devastating news.”

His voice cracking, he explained that he had first met Reid around 30 years ago when they were both working as comedians.

He said: “This is devastating. We all expected Bernard to die because we were with him so often over many months when he was deteriorating but this is horrendous news.

“Everyone in showbusiness will be shocked because this was one of the great friends of anything you wanted to do in showbusiness. I do not know what to say.”

He rose to fame in 1973 when he landed a role as one of the original stars of The Comedians, a popular TV series of the 1970s that was produced by Johnnie Hamp for Granada Television.

He first appeared on EastEnders in September 1987, quickly turning Frank Butcher into one of the show’s most popular characters.

Entertainer Russ Abbot said Reid was a great storyteller who had a great sense of comic timing.

“There certain comedians who do one-liners but Mike was a story-teller and a great deliverer,” he said.

Abbot said he would often meet up with Reid on golf tournaments where they had a strong rapport.

“He was a gentleman and a pleasure to have known,” he told BBC News 24. “As a private person he was a gentleman and a family man. Throughout all his tragedies he still stayed on top of it all.

“My memories of Mike will be of the person behind the scenes. Nothing was too much trouble, he was kind, he was generous and he was honest. I will miss him,” he said.

John Yorke, controller of BBC Drama Series, said: “Frank Butcher was one of a select group of truly great EastEnders’ characters and the skill with which Mike Reid played him made him one of the most popular and well-loved of all.

“Frank could break your heart and make you prostrate with laughter – often at the same time. Mike’s genius was to capture the heart of that flawed dreamer and make generations of viewers love him.

“Albert Square – and British Television – will be a far poorer place without him, as will the lives of those who loved and worked with him throughout his extraordinary career.”

Steve McFadden, who plays Phil Mitchell in the soap, paid tribute to Reid saying: “Mike was a lovely man and a good actor. He gave me a lot of advice which has often helped me.”

Actor Adam Woodyatt, a fellow EastEnders cast member who plays Ian Beale, said: “Mike used to brighten up long filming days keeping the cast and crew laughing.

“I can remember him on Runaround when I was a kid and was so chuffed when he joined the cast. He could take a joke as well, we once played his record There once was an ugly duckling over the tannoy to wind him up, he just let out this great laugh.

“He was a great man and our thoughts are with Shirley and his family.”

Pam St Clements, who played on-screen wife Pat, said: “I’m sorry to lose such a dear friend and colleague and my thoughts are with Shirley.

“It has come as a terrible shock. Somebody larger than life as Mike, as a person and character, seemed indestructible.”

Comedian Mike McCabe said Reid had been a “larger than life” character with a “great, great sense of humour”.

He told the BBC: “He was a great man full of life. It’s very sad what’s happened.

“He was a jack-the-lad, very funny with a great cockney way of putting things together. He was one of the lads. The blokes loved him, the women loved him. I admired the man.”