No Albert Square

Simon Stabler speaks to a star of EastEnders and Love Thy Neighbour

- Simon Stabler

Even if you are the most dedicated of EastEnders fans, it’s doubtful that you will remember much about B&B owner Audrey Trueman. No offence to Corinne Skinner-Carter who played the deeply religious Audrey, but the character isn’t a patch on her former husband, Patrick Trueman, played since 2001 by Love Thy Neighbour star Rudolph Walker.

Full of roguish charm, a love of rum and an eye for the ladies, Patrick came into our lives in September 2001, when he walked into the Queen Vic following Audrey's funeral.

Initially contracted for a six-month stint, Rudolph has been with the programme for 24 years and, in his own words, “still enjoying every minute of it.”

Born in Trinidad in 1939, Rudolph caught the acting bug while at primary school.

“What I remember of it, is holding letters of the alphabet in front of you and reciting things like: ‘L is for a little lamb, his fleece was white as snow.’ And as a young actor, the teacher, bless her, reminded me that I wanted more letters. Well, one wasn’t enough.”

While at elementary school, Rudolph ran his own drama group before joining, aged 15 or 16, the Company of Players — Trinidad’s top amateur dramatic group. At 19, he was invited by future Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott to join the newly formed Trinidad Theatre Workshop.

“We did all sorts of things in those days. I can’t remember ever doing Shakespeare in any of these companies but there were local dramas, and we did the odd American play but a lot of it was by local writers. Derek Walcott was one of them.”

Having been exposed to the work of a lot of American actors, Rudolph had considered training in the United States. However, a meeting with the Trinidadian actor Errol John, by then a well-known face on British television, suggested that London was the place to be.

Emigrating to the UK, Rudolph worked as a compositor in the print industry by day, while studying at the City Literary Institute, Holborn at night.