Laura Beale
{{EastEnders_Character
image= | character_name=Laura Beale | actor_name=Hannah Waterman | years=2000â€"2004 | dob=28 May 1976 | dod=30 April 2004 | status=Deceased | occupation= | family= Bobby, Norman, EdwinaLaura Ellen Beale (neé Dunn) was a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. She was played by Hannah Waterman.
Laura only ever wanted a happy marriage, but she was always made to feel inferior and unattractive by her husband, Ian Beale. She tried hard, but their marriage was a disaster and Laura always ended up being a hopeless victim.Laura appeared from 17 February 2000, introduced to the show as the nanny of Peter, Lucy and Steven Beale. She was attracted to her employer, Ian Beale, right from the start, but all her attempts to get closer to him went unnoticed. All Ian's women up till now had been glamourous and beautiful and Laura, who was dowdy and plain, didn't interest him in the slightest.
Laura was fiercely protective of Ian, and defended him to anyone that dared speak badly of him, particularly his ex-wife Melanie Healy. Eventually Ian began to think that having a loyal, faithful woman, who worshipped him (for a change), might not be such a bad thing after all. Initially Ian was just using Laura for sex and was quick to point this out. He would sleep with her only when he felt like it and was adamant that they were not seen together as a couple, which was due to the fact that he felt her inferior to his past conquests. After months of being treated like a doormat, Laura began to demand more commitment from Ian and when he refused to give it, she called off their 'arrangement' and tried to forget her woes by snogging new Walford arrival, Garry Hobbs. Ian was furious when he discovered her antics and after a blazing row, Laura decided to resign. Just before she was about to leave, Ian's life was thrown into turmoil when an over-zealous business venture ended up leaving him bankrupt. Kind-hearted Laura couldn't bare to abandon Ian in his time of need, so she agreed to stay on working for him, free of charge. Ian was pleased to have the support and so the two became a couple.With all Ian's businesses now repossessed, Laura set about raising the funds to buy back his fish n' chip shop so they could run it together. Unbeknown to Ian, she ended up borrowing the money from his ex, Melanie, and she and Ian's family all moved into the flat behind the chippy when his house was also repossessed. Things between Laura and Ian were going well and in April 2001, Ian proposed marriage. This didn't sit well with Laura's wealthy father, who could not condone his daughter marrying a bankrupt man. Nevertheless Laura decided to go ahead with the wedding, although problems arose when she discovered that Ian had known about some secret inheritance she'd received, and she suddenly began to think that Ian only wanted to get his hands on her money. Ian managed to talk her round just at the last minute, and they married in May that year.
In October Ian went away, and an overworked Laura accidentally caused a fire in the chip shop when she left one of the fryers on all night. Ian's youngest son, Peter, collapsed due to smoke inhilation, but thankfully no one was seriously hurt. Later in the year, Laura was seething with jealousy when Ian went into business with Melanie. In 2002 Mel was arrested for money laundering and drug dealing. In actual fact it was Mel's late husband who was guilty of the crimes, but unbeknown to Mel, she had been set up as the director of several companies that had been used for the laundering. Mel was now imprisoned and her only source of money for the bail were the funds she'd tied up in her catering business with Ian. As Ian was declared bakrupt, she needed Laura to sign the papers to liquidate the business. However, Laura saw her opportunity to rid herself of Mel once and for all, and she maliciously denied to sign the papers. When Mel was finally released she took great pleasure in informing Ian about Laura's spiteful deed and even greater pleasure in informing Laura that Ian had tried to kiss her several weeks earlier, and had only gone back to Laura after she turned him down.
Things between Laura and Ian started to go swiftly down hill after this. Laura, now in complete control of both their businesses, took great delight in reminding Ian that she was in charge and Ian began to feel worthless and belittled. To make matters worse, Laura then decided that she wanted a baby, which Ian flatly refused. The pair were involved in regular arguments, and a dishevelled Ian then started frequenting the local prostitute, Janine Butcher, to escape his nagging wife. This backfired on him when Janine decided to blackmail money out of him for her silence. Things were about to get far worse, however, when Ian's son, Steven, witnessed him and Janine in a steamy clinch and promptly informed Laura. Laura was heart-broken, but most of her rage was directed at Janine. She threw a pan of boiling hot milk over her face and ended up putting her in hospital. So began a long-standing feud between Laura and Janine.
Laura took Ian back on the promise that he would provide her with a child. He agreed, but then secretly went behind her back and had a vasectomy. Laura cheerfully went ahead with her pregnancy programme, demanding sex twice a night during her fertile periods, and she became quite frustrated when she failed to conceive. However, later in the year Laura did fall pregnant. Knowing that the child could not possibly be his, Ian tossed Laura onto the streets on Christmas day 2002, but not before he'd managed to con her into signing over her share of their businesses. Laura had no choice but to turn up on the doorstep of the man that she thought was the father, Garry Hobbs.It turned out that, earlier in the year, Laura had attended a party and had gotten extremely drunk. So drunk in fact that she could only remember zipping up Garry Hobbs's trousers at the end of the night, leading her to think that she and Garry had had sex and that he was her unborn baby's father. Garry was mortified, particularly when his wife Lynne found out. She soon threw him out too and Laura and Garry shacked up in a bedsit together. Despite his wife's protests, Garry decided to stand by Laura and helped to provide for her as she was unable to work. Later in the year she gave birth to a son, named Bobby (after Bobby Moore). Bobby was sickly at birth, and had to have a blood transfusion - during which it became clear that Garry wasn't his father after all! Laura decided to keep this information to herself, and allowed Garry's marriage to collapse once again, while she appropriated him as father and provider. With Garry now single, Laura began using him for sex whenever she saw fit, but he eventually got back together with Lynne and it was a delighted Ian who cruelly informed her that she was dumped and alone, yet again. Despite all this, Laura refrained from divulging that there was a distinct possibility that Bobby was actually his. | Laura lies dead on the stairs |
Laura and Ian continued to feud regularly, and things were made worse when Phil Mitchell appointed Laura as the new manager of Ian's old café. She renamed it Laura's. Ian managed to get the upper hand yet again when Phil's sister, Sam, sold the café back to him in 2004. Ian subsequently sacked Laura and she was then forced to move in with her friend Pat Evans. That same year, Laura managed to reignite her feud with Janine when she urged Natalie Evans to sue her for maintenance, following the death of Janine's husband, Barry Evans. Janine retaliated by reporting Janine for benefit fraud when she witnessed her being paid cash-in-hand for cleaning The Queen Vic. Janine then managed to talk the owner of the grocery store out of hiring Laura, by badmouthing her and bringing up her past misdemeanours. Laura was furious when she discovered what Janine had done and she in turn managed to ruin Janine's business venture, by slurring her name to one of her clients. Janine promptly went round to Laura's to have it out with her and the two were involved in a vicious fight, where Laura was nearly strangled. Janine then left a traumatised Laura mulling over the tragic state of her life. She suddenly decided that now was the time to inform Ian that he was Bobby's father. After hysterically calling him and being shunned, Laura decided to write Ian a letter instead. Moments later, Ian, feeling a twang of guilt, knocked on Laura's door, and, in Laura's haste to answer him, she ran down the stairs and tripped on one of Bobby's toys, breaking her neck as she fell. She died instantly. Her final appearance was in April 2004.
Janine had been with Pat at the time of Laura's death, but as Pat had just discovered that she was responsible for Barry Evans' death, she decided not to give her an alibi. Janine was subsequently arrested for the murder of Laura. She stood trial in 2005, but was found not-guilty when Pat reconsidered and finally gave her an alibi.
Soon after Laura's death, Pat discovered her letter to Ian, and informed him that he was Bobby's father. Blood tests confirmed this and Bobby now resides with him.*Mother: Edwina Dunn
*Father: Norman Dunn
*Son: Bobby Beale*Laura Beale, BBC character profile
*Laura Beale, EastEnders cast cards [1] [2] [3]
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