Michael Attwell
Michael Attwell
16.01.1943 - 18.03.2006 (63 years) (Watford, Hertfordshire, England)
Michael John Attwell (16 January 1943 – 18 March 2006) was an English film and television actor. He is possibly best known for his role as Kenny Beale in the television soap opera EastEnders. In 1979 and 1980 he played Razor Eddie a.k.a. Edward Winston Malone in two series of the comedy-drama Turtle's Progress. The character had originally been created for the ITV drama serial The Hanged Man, where he was played by Gareth Hunt. In 1978 he played Bill Sikes in the revival of Lionel Bart's musical Oliver! at the Albery Theatre and in 1985 he played Bill Sikes again in the BBC's Sunday afternoon classic serial Oliver Twist. His other TV credits include: Doctor Who (in the serials The Ice Warriors and Attack of the Cybermen), The First Churchills, Only Fools and Horses, Minder, Bergerac, C.A.T.S. Eyes, Wycliffe, Inspector Morse, Bugs, Silent Witness, Pie in the Sky, Casualty, The Bill, Hotel Babylon, and Are You Being Served?. He appeared in the 1988 film Buster, based on the life of the Great Train Robber Buster Edwards. As well as acting, between 1981 and 1993 Attwell also had a considerable career as a political cartoonist for several British national newspapers including The Sun, Sunday People and the News of the World. A self-taught artist, Attwell signed himself as Zoke, an amalgam of the names of his children Zoe and Jake. Attwell died in London on the 18 March 2006 aged 63 from complications following surgery. His life and work was honoured at the British Academy Television Awards in 2006.