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PROFILE: Mike Reid aka Frank
Butcher.
It's official! Mike Reid Returns to EE
Mike was born in Hackney, East London.
On his honeymoon, Mike entered and won a talent contest at Butlins in
the singing and stand up comedy categories. Shortly afterwards he
managed to get a spot on the TV show ’The Comedians’ which was a great
success and gave him much needed recognition. He was doing stand up
routines in pubs and clubs around the country as well as more TV shows.
Mike landed the role of Frank Butcher in the hit British soap EastEnders
in 1987. He mentions the way he and Pam St Clement, who played his
screen wife Pat, "had this spark between us". "As time has
gone on Mike Reid has been left behind and I’ve become Frank Butcher to
millions of people. Far from thinking I’ve lost my identity, I take it
as a compliment that I’m able to play the part so convincingly. I think
I’m safe in saying that I know Frank better than anyone else. How he
thinks, how he would react to different situations; and it’s only in
this regard that I ever raise my voice on set". Mike has always been
very stubborn with directors who have their own ideas about how the
character should develop. Mike will tell them "whoa, hang on a minute.
Don’t tell me. I know this man. I’ve been playing him for a dozen years.
You’ve just arrived and right now you don’t know nothing about us
people!" This may be one of the reasons that Frank’s character has
remained realistic.
Mike
found the depression storyline of 1994 very difficult to deal with.
Because he gets so involved in the part of Frank, Mike found it
increasingly difficult to shake him off when he left the set. Mike was
fatigued both physically and mentally and was glad to have a break from
the show when Frank walked out in April 1994. During his time away from EastEnders, Mike spent many hours relaxing in Spain. On returning to the
show in late 1995, Mike says he began to find himself slipping back into
the depression of the character once more. "Strange really: I’ve always
been self-reliant and more outgoing than the average person, so I found
it hard to believe that I could be affected by something that was total
fiction". Though he has enjoyed his time in the show and loves the
recognition it has given him, Mike was relieved when he took a lengthy
break from the show in early 1996. On his return two years later, Mike
was refreshed and told the producers that he wanted the character to
cheer up a bit! He said to his wife "if I’ve got to suffer all that
cranky letters and abuse in the street stuff I just can’t do it". Mike
had been friends with EastEnders co star Barbara Windsor for some time
and was instrumental in getting her a part in the show.
 Therefore,
Mike was delighted when the scriptwriters made the two partners and
eventually husband and wife. After leaving the show this Autumn, Mike
intends to wind down his career and spend more time with his family,
which are very much the driving force in his life. However watch this
space…He says he learned a lot about acting from observing the way Pam
tackled things. Mike was welcomed and made to feel part of the EastEnders family. In his 1999 autobiography ’Trific’, Mike says
"strange to think, really, that when you watch the programme we all seem
to be in each other’s pockets, rubbing shoulders and bumping in to each
other all over the Square. In truth, it’s surprising how many of the
cast I’ve never had one bit of dialogue with. Even Wendy Richard, who’s
been a mainstay from the beginning; I can only remember doing one scene
with her in twelve years!" Mike says he prefers the shooting schedule on EastEnders nowadays to the way it was before. He never liked rehearsals
feeling that "the more you mess about with it the less spontaneous it
gets". On several occasions the press have offered him under the counter
payments to reveal future EastEnders storylines but he has always
refused. He doesn’t feel it’s fair on the viewers to spoil the suspense.
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