Ian Beale | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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EastEnders character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Portrayed by | Adam Woodyatt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Duration | 1985–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First appearance | Episode 1 "Poor Old Reg" 19 February 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Created by | Tony Holland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Introduced by | Julia Smith (1985) Chris Clenshaw (2022) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spin-off appearances |
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Ian Albert Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Adam Woodyatt. He is the drama's longest-serving main character and one of four remaining original characters, the others being his mother Kathy Beale (Gilian Taylforth), Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) and Tracey (Jane Slaughter). The character appeared in his 2,000th episode in the show on 26 March 2007,[1] and his 3,000th on 27 May 2016.[2] Woodyatt took an extended break from EastEnders on 22 January 2021.[3][4] He made appearances on 12 December 2022 and 22 June 2023, prior to a full-time return on 22 August.
Ian is the most-married character in EastEnders history, with six marriages to five women: Cindy Williams (Michelle Collins), Mel Healy (Tamzin Outhwaite), Laura Dunn (Hannah Waterman), twice to Jane Collins (Laurie Brett), and Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), and two aborted engagements to Mandy Salter (Nicola Stapleton) and Denise Fox (Diane Parish). He has fathered three children (Peter, Lucy and Bobby), raised Cindy's son Steven Beale (who he believed to be his) and was the guardian of Cindy's youngest daughter, Cindy Jr. Ian is the owner of 45 Albert Square, traditionally represented within the series as the family home of the Beale and Fowler family, and in 2020, he bought The Queen Victoria public house for Sharon.