Actors

Rudolph Walker’s love life away from EastEnders is just as dramatic as Patrick Trueman’s

Rudolph Walker is an EastEnders legend – but what do we know about his off-screen love life?

The actor joined the BBC soap way back in 2001 as Patrick Trueman – and it didn’t take him long to become a firm favourite with fans. The character has also played a part in several big storylines

From his many romances, marrying Yolande (Angela Wynter) and the recent murder of son Anthony (Nicholas Bailey), Patrick’s time in Walford has not been short of drama.

Away from the TV sets, though, Rudolph’s love life has been just as dramatic as his Walford alter ego. From being married three times to ending up homeless after a divorce, here’s a look inside the talented actor’s romances.

Rudolph was first married to Lorna Ross in 1968. The pair welcomed two children together, daughter Sheona and son Darren.

However, in the early 90s, Rudolph and Lorna went their separate ways. The pair remained on good terms, though, as years later, when Rudolph’s second divorce left him penniless and homeless, she helped him out through the tough times.

“Bless her. We are still extremely good friends. It didn’t take me out of what I was experiencing, but it cushioned a lot,” he told the Mirror.

Rudolph went on to find love again with Dounne Alexander, whom he married in August 1998. Dounne is the founder of Gramma’s, a collection of herbal pepper sauces that have been sold in shops such as Harrods and Fortnum and Mason over the years.

She was also awarded an MBE due to her work with the Joining Hands In Health campaign. In the mid-2010s, though, Rudolph and Dounne called it quits. However, the legal costs of his second divorce took their toll on Rudolph, and he spent two years broke and homeless.

“It was painful. It was extremely difficult. I just didn’t have any financial means. I was literally starting from scratch again in my 70s, with nowhere to live. It was a time of great pain and loneliness,” he shared.

The TV star went on: “Some days on my way to the studio, I would pull up at the side of the road, have a cry. I suppose it was a sort of double life.

“Questions of: ‘Who am I? Why am I in this position?’ There was no way the public watching me as Patrick every other night were aware that was what was happening.”

After Dounne, Rudolph began a romance with Evangeline Vincent, and the pair married in 2016. The couple is still together to this day.

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One.

Tony Maudsley is best known for his role as George Shuttleworth on Coronation Street and away from the soap he lives a far less dramatic life

Tony Maudsley is a beloved figure on Coronation Street – but what do we know about his life off the set?

Tony joined the ITV soap in 2020, portraying George Shuttleworth, the son of the late funeral director Archie (Roy Hudd). Since then, he’s won over viewers and has been involved in numerous major plotlines.

Particularly now, as George is inching closer to uncovering the truth about wicked Theo Silverton (James Cartwright), who has been tormenting Todd Grimshaw (Gareth Pierce) for several months, reports the Daily Star.

Off-screen, actor Tony leads a far less dramatic life. Here, we delve into the accomplished star’s personal world.

Tony’s Hollywood Stardom

In addition to Corrie, Tony has featured in Queer As Folk, Emmerdale and also starred in the popular ITV sitcom Benidorm, playing hairdresser Kenneth Du Beke from 2011 to 2018.

Moreover, Tony made an appearance in the Harry Potter series in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, portraying Hagrid’s half-brother, Gawp.

Reflecting on his time in Harry Potter, Tony remarked: “It was one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever done. I was weighed down with these huge monster feet that were so heavy, that I could never get into the canteen and back in time.”

Tony also shared screen space with Johnny Depp in the film Sleepy Hollow – but had an awkward encounter with the Hollywood icon. He revealed to Soap Inside magazine: “Very early on in my career, I worked with Johnny Depp on the film Sleepy Hollow.

“At the time, I’d stopped smoking for three years – but Johnny invited me for a roll-up round the back of the set, and I couldn’t say no! So, there I was trying to look cool with Johnny, while choking on a cigarette. It’s been a pretty lovely career.”

Tony’s private family life

Tony regularly keeps his devoted following of 77,000 Instagram fans informed about his daily activities. Earlier this year, he offered supporters an uncommon glimpse into his personal world when he posted multiple pictures of his beloved dog following a grooming session.

He wrote alongside the post: “Took Bosie to a new groomers today in Worsley Village and they did a great job! They even cleaned his teeth (well the few he’s got left!)”

And in March, Tony honoured his seldom-seen mother after sharing a photograph of them together for Mother’s Day. In the image, Tony appeared delighted standing next to his mum. He wrote with the post: “Happy Mother’s Day from me and mine.”

Tony’s grief following tragic loss

In January 2024, Tony expressed his devastation after his friend Michael McGarrigle – who collaborated with Tony on ITV’s Benidorm – had died.

Tony initially requested assistance from his followers to locate costume supervisor Michael who had disappeared, but days afterwards he confirmed the tragic news that Michael had passed away.

Posting a photo with Michael, Tony shared a heartfelt tribute to his mate: “Thank you so much to everyone for all your efforts in reposting our appeal to find Michael yesterday. I’m so sad to say that we found out late last night that we’ve lost our beautiful friend.

“Our whole Benidorm family is devastated and we’ll miss him hugely. RIP Michael.”

In addition to Benidorm, Michael served as the costume supervisor on programmes such as Prisoners Wives Maternal, The Larkins, DCI Banks, Whitechapel, Mrs Biggs, Annika and The Fear. He was also the co-owner of a musical theatre and cabaret bar in Brighton, Bar Broadway.

Coronation Street airs Monday to Friday at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX

A group of California trial lawyers is backing a package of bills aimed at policing their industry by ramping up the penalties for attorneys who recruit clients illegally or prioritize the desires of hedge fund investors.

The Consumer Attorneys of California, a prominent trade group, said it is supporting two bills this session meant to crack down on the “small number of bad actors engaged in illegal conduct that threatens to undermine public trust” in the state’s legal bar.

The group said the bills, introduced Monday by Assemblymembers Ash Kalra (D-San José) and Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Los Angeles), were a response to recent Times investigations involving California lawyers. The Times found nine clients within L.A. County’s $4-billion sex-abuse settlement who said they were paid to sue and, in some cases, fabricate claims that became part of the historic payout. Another story examined opaque investor financing arrangements used by some firms.

“We’re not trying to insulate ourselves from accountability,” said Douglas Saeltzer, president of the attorney group, in an interview. “There needs to be consequences.”

The bill introduced by Zbur would disbar any attorney who is convicted of illegally soliciting clients. Kalra’s bill would ban private equity firms and hedge funds from dictating case strategy after giving money to a law firm.

Plaintiff’s attorneys say the legislative push is an attempt to clean up their profession’s image. It comes amid efforts by companies and governments frequently targeted by lawsuits to rein in a barrage of litigation.

Uber is pushing a measure for the November ballot that would limit how much lawyers can collect in fees for car crash cases, encouraging Californians to “stop the billboard lawyer scam.” A coalition of California counties has simultaneously begun circulating language to lawmakers that would limit attorneys’ ability to sue over older sex-abuse cases, pointing to recent allegations of fraud.

Zbur’s legislation, Assembly Bill 2039, would require the State Bar strip the license of any attorney with a felony conviction for a practice known as capping, in which law firms directly solicit or procure clients to sign up for lawsuits. Currently, attorneys convicted of capping can face suspension or probation, but are eligible to keep their license.

Under the bill, the attorney also would be disbarred for a misdemeanor capping conviction if the lawyer “acted knowingly and for financial gain.”

“It really is making very clear that if you’re engaging in this kind of capping, then there’s going to be a consequence,” Zbur said.

All clients who said they were paid to sue L.A. County over sex abuse were represented by Downtown LA Law Group, one of Southern California’s largest personal injury firms. The firm, also known as DTLA, is under investigation by the district attorney, the State Bar and L.A. County.

DTLA has denied any wrongdoing and said its lawyers “operate with unwavering integrity, prioritizing client welfare.”

Zbur’s bill also would provide whistleblower protections to people who report on attorney misconduct and tighten the rules around client loans. California is one of the few states where lawyers can lend money directly to clients.

Other states have barred the practice, concerned that direct loans give an attorney too much leverage over their clients.

The second bill introduced Monday, AB 2305, is aimed at the rising trend of private equity firms and hedge funds lending money to law firms and profiting from the payouts. The Times reported in December that investors were financing some of the flood of sex-abuse litigation against L.A. County.

Supporters of litigation finance say it gives attorneys the funding they need to take on deep-pocketed corporations and represent victims who can’t afford to sue on their own. Critics say investors can secretly sway case strategy, putting their profit before the best interests of a client.

“These Wall Street investors are salivating,” Kalra said. “This is just gonna clearly say, ‘No, no more. We’re not gonna allow these types of investments to influence the practice of law.’”

Kalra’s bill would bar investors from weighing in on litigation, such as who the firm should take on as a client and when they should settle a case. Any contracts that allow investor influence would be void under the law.

It’s unclear how the restrictions would be enforced. It’s often difficult to tell when an investor is financing a firm’s caseload, much less whether they’re exerting influence on a case.

Lawyers already are barred under the State Bar’s rules from allowing a third party to dictate case strategy and are barred in many cases from sharing legal fees with a nonlawyer.

“We’re finding that’s not enough,” Kalra said. “We actually need clear statutory safeguards.”

STRANGER Things sensation Millie Bobby Brown is one of the top ten highest-paid Hollywood screen stars — aged just 22. 

The Brit actress earned a whopping £19.6million last year, Forbes magazine has revealed. 

Her bumper pay makes her the youngest star to grace the business bible’s annual highest-paid actors list.

It comes after Millie’s hit Netflix sci-fi show ended with its fifth and final series last year — becoming one of the streamer’s most-watched shows of all time. 

Topping Forbes’ 2025 list is US actor Adam Sandler, 59, known for his comedy roles.

He reportedly made £36.2million last year from producing and starring in Happy Gilmore 2, and co- starring in Netflix comedy drama Jay Kelly. 

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Tom Cruise, 63, came in second with a £34.7million payday off the back of Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.

Scarlett Johansson, 41, was fourth and the best-paid woman in the industry, raking in some £32.4million. 

While Hollywood pay is still huge, the combined earnings of the top 20 actors actually fell from 2024’s £551million — down to £445million. 

Just in time for the Oscars, Tilly Norwood, and by extension her creator, Eline van der Velden, gave actors at every level an unexpected gift — the chance to breathe a little easier.

AI will not be replacing you any time soon.

On Tuesday, the AI phenomenon known as Tilly debuted a single and music video titled “Take the Lead.” In it, Tilly sings a self-celebratory, pro-AI anthem with the big-eyed feisty longing of an algorithm marked “Disney princess: Big song” while she wanders through increasingly fantastic self-affirming scenarios that scream “Plus ‘Barbie.’”

Van der Velden was clearly trying to persuade actors to embrace the possibilities of AI but like Timothée Chalamet, who managed to prove that opera and ballet have many devoted fans by publicly suggesting the opposite, her attempt will likely backfire. The underlying message of the video, at least to performers, appears to be: Relax — AI hasn’t figured out how to lip sync properly, much less act.

It’s a bit of good news in a time of AI anxiety, some of which was Tilly-induced. Last year, Van der Velden, a Dutch actor and founder of the production company Particle6, debuted Tilly, via Instagram, as the “world’s first AI actress.” Around the time the account hit 50,000 followers, Van der Velden announced that several talent agents were interested in representing Tilly. Not Van der Velden, but Tilly Norwood, a “performer” who did not exist.

For a few minutes, Hollywood lost its collective mind. Not only were creators and performers facing a future in which their work, bodies and faces could be scanned and fed into an algorithm capable of imitating writing styles or creating images of actors doing things they never did (in a recent AI video, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt duke it out on a war-torn rooftop), now some feared they would be competing for jobs with “actors” who could work 24 hours a day, required no health benefits and would never demand bowls of M&Ms with the green ones removed.

SAG-AFTRA, which had just ended a strike caused in part by concerns about AI, protested Tilly and the use of “stolen performances to put actors out of work.” Various actors were outraged and some called for the interested talent agencies to be identified. Even Emily Blunt was publicly disconcerted, begging Hollywood agencies to “please stop taking away our human connection.”

Van der Velden quickly responded, insisting that Tilly was “not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work — a piece of art … a new tool — a new paintbrush.”

Then, on Tuesday, “Tilly” released a music video that seems to argue the exact opposite.

In the video, which appears over the message “Can’t wait to go to the Oscars,” the computer-generated young woman trips through a montage of “famous person moments,” as Tilly insists that she is not a puppet but a star; she encourages all actors to embrace and use AI, to own their creativity and “be free.”

A note prefacing the video states that “18 real humans” were involved in its production (including Van der Velden who is the basis of the performance), who provide the subtext for Tilly warbling: “They say it’s not real, that it’s fake, but I’m a human, make no mistake.”

Whatever Van der Velden and her team hoped to achieve, one thing is very clear: Emily Blunt has nothing to fear from Tilly Norwood.

The questionable merits of the song, performance and production value aside, the video is the best argument yet for why AI “performers” are a limited threat. As Tilly walks the streets of London, poses for selfies, signs autographs, appears on talk shows, performs live in front of enormous audiences, interacts with photographers, we are reminded that Tilly could never do any of this. AI performances are, by their very nature, limited to a screen.

Instagram fame is a real thing and can be monetarily beneficial, just as animated and digitally enhanced characters can connect deeply with audiences. But beyond her ability to raise the spectre of wholly coded “performers” constructed from borrowed bits of humans (which, as anyone who has read or seen “Frankenstein” knows, never ends well), Tilly doesn’t appear to have anything like star power.

And to consider her as existing separate from her creators is like imagining that the ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy could have a career, and an agent, separate from the real performer Edgar Bergen.

Though Charlie did have the advantage of being able to be seen live and in person.

Watching Tilly, one is reminded that the magic of actors is that they are human. Audiences are, after all, human too and whether facing a stage or a screen, we are captivated by certain performers’ ability to bring all manner of characters and stories alive, while also being, as Us Weekly says, “just like us.”

People with bodies that age and change, people who fall in love, get messy, say dumb things, say smart things, fall prey to illness and accidents, shop at Trader Joe’s, end up in court or trip when about to receive an Oscar.

Their faulty, glorious humanity allows them to connect to their art, but it also connects them to us. We may never get an Oscar or be able to masterfully deliver a Shakespeare soliloquy on a chat show, but we know what it’s like to trip or say something dumb or experience aging, illness or accident.

You can’t replace actors with algorithms, even if/when someone comes up with something more convincing than Tilly, because actors are not just about performances. They are people who are alive in the world and no amount of coding can replicate that.