Celebrities gather for Reid funeral

12 April 2012

Stars are set to turn out in force for the funeral of actor and comedian Mike Reid.

Reid, 67, best known as EastEnders' Frank Butcher, died suddenly from a heart attack in Spain last month.

His funeral is being held at Little Easton Parish Church, in Little Easton, Essex.

Members of the EastEnders cast are expected to attend, along with many other famous names from the world of showbusiness.

Reid's agent David Hahn said Frank Carson, Russ Abbot, Pam St Clement, Barbara Windsor, June Brown and Sid Owen will be among the mourners in the church, which can hold 150 people.

Mr Hahn said Reid's family, including his widow Shirley, 69, are still "numb" at his death. "Shirley has not just lost a husband, she has also lost her best friend. He doted on her and he was her rock," he said. "Mike was 6ft 3in and she is a petite lady but, to Mike, she was the biggest person in the world."

Mr Hahn paid tribute to Reid and said he had been "amazed" by the reaction to his death.

"Mike was a people's person. He loved the working man in the street. Mike always said to me, 'it's those people who put me where I am today'. I knew Mike was a popular man but I never in a million years expected him to be as popular as this," he added. I've had over 2,000 e-mails expressing condolences. I'm amazed."

Mr Hahn and one of Reid's sons, Jimmy, will read tributes, while members of the Comedians Golfing Society, of which Reid was a former chairman, will also pay their respects.

Following the service, mourners will attend a wake in a converted barn close to the church. Reid, who had a house with his wife in nearby Great Easton, will be cremated in Chelmsford, Essex on Wednesday.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in