Kathy Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Gillian Taylforth. Portrayed as "an attractive, bright, caring and highly moral woman", Kathy is one of the serial's original characters, appearing in the first episode of EastEnders on 19 February 1985. She is created as the second wife of Pete Beale and mother of their son Ian Beale. Taylforth was originally dismissed for the role of Kathy due to her young age, but was reconsidered when she impressed show bosses. The actress opted to leave the serial in 1997 and Kathy departed on 10 April 1998 after deciding to move to South Africa with her second son Ben Mitchell. Kathy returned for two separate guest stints in 1999, making her departure on 6 January 2000. Despite reports that Taylforth would be returning to the serial, Kathy was supposedly killed off-screen in a road collision in 2006 to facilitate Ben's reintroduction to the serial. Taylforth reprised the role for a charity special in 2014. In the episode broadcast on 19 February 2015 to celebrate the show's 30th anniversary, Kathy made a surprise return to the serial - despite being presumed dead. It was confirmed that Kathy would be making a permanent return, and – after a guest appearance on 19 May 2015 – Kathy returned permanently on 17 August 2015. Taylforth was initially hesitant about her reintroduction storyline, which was inspired by the John Darwin disappearance case. In May 2019, it was announced that Kathy would open Walford's first gay bar. Taylforth appeared in her 2,000th episode on 22 May 2023. On 29 July 2024, it was announced that Taylforth would be going on a temporary break in the episode aired that night. Kathy returned to the serial on 19 August, after just three weeks off-screen.