Pauline Fowler

Pauline Fowler
A promotional image of Pauline Fowler
EastEnders character
Portrayed by	Wendy Richard
Duration	1985–2006
First appearance	Episode 1 19 February 1985
Last appearance	Episode 3281 25 December 2006
Created by	Tony Holland and Julia Smith
Introduced by	Julia Smith
Book appearances	Home Fires Burning Swings and Roundabouts
Spin-off appearances	Dimensions in Time (1993)
Classification	Former; regular
Profile
Occupation	Launderette assistant
Family Beale Father Albert Beale Mother Lou Beale Brothers Harry Beale Ronnie Beale Kenny Beale Pete Beale Sisters Maggie Flaherty Dora Beale Husband Arthur Fowler (until 1996) Joe Macer (2006) Sons Mark Fowler Martin Fowler Daughters Michelle Fowler Granddaughters Vicki Fowler Rebecca Fowler Grandmothers Mrs Medeemey Aunts Betty Beale Flo Medeemey Nephews Ian Beale David Wicks Nieces Elizabeth Beale Other relatives Nellie Ellis Lucy Beale Peter Beale Bobby Beale

Pauline Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, a long-running serial drama about working class life in the fictional London borough of Walford. She was played by actress Wendy Richard between the first episode on 19 February 1985 and 25 December 2006. Pauline was created by scriptwriter Tony Holland and producer Julia Smith as one of EastEnders' original characters. She made her debut in the soap's first episode on 19 February 1985, and remained for twenty-one years and ten months, making her the second longest-running original character, surpassed only by her nephew, Ian Beale.

Pauline is a member of the Beale family. Her storylines focus on drudgery, money worries and family troubles. The matriarchal stalwart of the fictional London community of Albert Square, she was portrayed as a loving, doting mother who was very family-oriented. In later years however, she became a more stoic, opinionated battle-axe who alienated her relatives through overbearing interference. Pauline's marriage to the downtrodden Arthur was central to the character for the first eleven years of the programme, culminating with his screen death in 1996. She was used for comedic purposes in scenes with her launderette colleague, Dot Cotton, and scriptwriters included many feuds in her narrative, most notably with her daughter-in-law, Sonia, and Den Watts, a family friend who got her daughter Michelle pregnant at just 16. A famous episode in 1986, which included Pauline discovering that Den was the father of Michelle's baby, drew over 30 million viewers, and was listed at Number 36 in The Times' 1998 list of "Top 100 cult moments in Film".Wendy Richard announced Pauline's retirement from the serial in July 2006, and the character was killed off in a "whodunnit?" murder storyline, with Richard making her final appearance on 25 December 2006.