Kathy Beale

Kathy Cotton is a fictional character and primary protagonist of the BBC British soap opera EastEnders. 
She debuted in the show's first ever episode on February 19th 1985 and became one of the show's central protagonists until her first departure on April 10th 1998 before reappearing briefly as a major protagonist from September 16th 1999 to January 6th 2000. It was then the character became a mentioned figure from 2000-2005 before she was allegedly killed-off from early 2006 off-screen. However, Kathy made a surprise return in the show's 30th anniversary special episode dated February 19th 2015 and has since then reprised her role as one of the show's central protagonists from 2015-present onwards.
The character is portrayed by .
==Biography==
Kathy Beale is a member of the focal Beale Family that had been living in Albert Square, the market town of fictional East London borough Walford, for decades prior to the serial's debution in 1985. It was during the show's very first episode that Kathy was a barmaid of The Queen Victoria public house and the mother of Ian Beale - also the show's longest-serving character at the moment.
Since her debution and the show's introduction in 1985, Kathy has represented some of EastEnders' biggest and most highly-prolific storylines to date. These include her long-running marriage with Ian's father and her first husband Pete Beale; finding out that local wayward Donna Ludlow is actually her long-lost daughter as a result of Kathy being sexually molested by Donna's late father Marcus Duffy as a preteen child decades ago; being blackmailed by Pete's enemy Nick Cotton over his discovery of her troubled past; getting raped by her former boss James Willmott-Brown; breaking up with Pete as a result of her rape ordeal from Willmott-Brown; having a close friendship with Pete's ex-wife Pat Butcher; an on-off conflict with her love rival Sharon Watts; becoming sworn enemies with Ian's first wife Cindy Beale; a turbulent relationship with the square's criminal hardman Phil Mitchell that starts out promising when the two get married and later concieve their son Ben Mitchell, only to end in diaster as a result of Phil's alcohol addiction; harbouring romantic feelings for the square's vicar Alex Healy; and having a one-night stand with Phil's brother Grant Mitchell before leaving the country with Ben to start anew in South Africa.
In 2006, it was alleged that Kathy had been killed in a fatal car accident - which results in Ben coming back to Walford to live with Phil for the next few years. However, nearly nine years later in 2015 during the show's 30th anniversary special episode, Kathy is revealed to be alive and that she had faked her death all along. The character's storylines in her second long-running stint has revolved on reconciling with Ben and Ian; getting subjected to coercive control by her estranged third husband Gavin Sullivan; being involved in a love triangle surrounding Phil's ex-fiance Shirley Carter and her old lover Buster Briggs; revisiting her past with Willmott-Brown when he returns to try and demolish Albert Square as part of his illict business expansion scheme; clashing with fellow businessman Max Branning over his revenge campaign against her neighbourhood; a short-lived fling with restauranter Masood Ahmed; supporting Ben over his ordeal of being raped by his friend Lewis Butler; a problematic romance with Nick's charismatic half-brother Tom Cotton that involved the pair getting married until she breaks up with him over his lies; and witnessing the murder of Sharon's fiance Keanu Taylor committed by her closest friend Linda Carter before helping cover-up the crime.
==Navigation==
==Trivia==
*Gillian Taylforth (the actress who played Kathy Beale) has received universal acclaim for her performance as Kathy Beale that she won and was nominated for countless awards in contribution to her role in EastEnders.
*Kathy Beale was the first EastEnders character to represent the show's inagual rape storyline back when she was raped by James Willmott-Brown.
**Beforehand, Kathy also had an off-screen rape storyline prior to the show's very first episode when it transpired that her long-lost daughter Donna Ludlow was the product of rape.
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