Anita Dobson pays tribute to Leslie Grantham

Anita Dobson has paid tribute to EastEnders co-star Leslie Grantham following his death yesterday at the age of 71.

The actress memorably played Angie Watts – onscreen wife to Grantham’s ‘Dirty’ Den Watts – in the soap between 1985-1988. The couple ran the Queen Vic together, living there with their adopted daughter Sharon (Letitia Dean) and poodle Roly.

They were responsible for one of the most watched moments in British Television history when more than 30 million viewers tuned in to see Den serve Angie with divorce papers on Christmas Day 1986.

Alcoholic Ange had previously lied to Den that she had only ‘six months to live’ to stop him from leaving her to be with his long-term mistress.

“The time we had together was amazing. The chemistry was just extraordinary and a very memorable time and I won’t forget him,” Anita enthused in an interview with an ITV News.

“It was a magical time because I don’t think either of us expected the chemistry to be so potent. But, the first time we rehearsed together, I remember after we’d done a little scene Leslie walked away and went ‘Yes, Brilliant!’ and I knew exactly what he meant. It just worked,” Anita further noted

Angie was last seen leaving Walford in a black cab to start a new life in Spain, with a mention of a move to America some years later. She was killed off-screen from an alcohol-related illness in 2002.

Grantham also quit EastEnders in 1988, remaining onscreen until early the following year. After getting in over his head with a local criminal outfit, Den was shot by a local canal and thereafter was thought to be dead. Anita and Leslie later worked together on Sky crime drama The Stretch in 2000 before Leslie made a sensational comeback to EastEnders in 2003.

He starred once more in the series that had propelled him to stardom until 2005, with Den finally being killed off at the hands of second wife Chrissie (Tracy-Ann Oberman) who’d had her fill of his cheating.

Other EastEnders stars have also been paying tribute to Grantham including June Brown MBE, who was recommended for the role of Dot Cotton by Grantham back in 1985.

“I was very fond of Leslie and am so sorry that he has gone. I always enjoyed talking to him, he made me laugh and always had a twinkle in his eye when he said outrageous things. He was a wonderful and special actor, witty and very talented. I shall remember him very fondly and with affection.” – June Brown MBE

While Adam Woodyatt – the BBC One soap’s only cast member to have appeared continuously from episode one until the present day – noted;

“So sad to hear that Leslie has passed away. Many soap characters get called a legend but Les’s Den Watts was more than that. He created one of the most watched and iconic pieces of British Television, over 30 million people watched as Den handed over divorce papers to Angie. He had a wicked and self-deprecating sense of humour and I have many fond memories not just from working with him on EastEnders but from playing against him on the Cricket field. My thoughts are with his family and friends.” – Adam Woodyatt

Between his two stints in EastEnders Grantham, who was born in Camberwell in 1947, also appeared in several dramas such as BBC One’s The Paradise Club and 99-1 for Carlton on ITV and was a personality in his own right making appearances on Central Television’s star quiz Celebrity Squares for ITV, BBC One’s The Les Dawson Show, Cluedo from Granada for ITV, BBC One quiz That’s Showbizness and as a regular on Channel 5’s Fort Boyard where, as expected, he played the ‘baddie’ Master of the Fort who wanted the contestants to fail and not win ‘his money’.

Before ‘Enders he had also made a number of notable appearances in programmes such as drama The Jewel In The Crown and sci-fi series Doctor Who. He hit the headlines not long after landing the role of Den Watts when newspapers unearthed details that Grantham had spent a decade in prison for murder. In December 1966, Grantham attempted to rob a taxi driver, Felix Reese, in West Germany. A struggle between the two followed with Reese killed from a gunshot wound to the head. Grantham said he didn’t realise the gun was loaded, however, was found guilty of murder in 1967.

In 2004 Grantham was embroiled in a webcam sex scandal when it was reported that he had been using the internet at EastEnders to contact a woman some years his junior with webcam sessions seeing him in a state of undress, sucking his finger, making lewd remarks and dissing his co-stars. Last night, The Sun reported that he was looked into over a sexual assault accusation in 2012, however the investigation was dropped.