Rudolph Walker EastEnders Death: Trinidadian-British actor Rudolph Malcolm Walker CBE passed away

Rudolph Malcolm Walker CBE was a towering presence in British television whose career spanned more than six decades. Best known to millions as Patrick Trueman on BBC One’s EastEnders, Walker brought warmth, gravitas and gentle humour to a role that became a beloved part of Albert Square.

His earlier work — including landmark appearances in Love Thy Neighbour and The Thin Blue Line — established him as one of the most recognisable Caribbean voices on UK screens and a trailblazer for Black actors in British drama.

Off screen, Walker’s commitment to community and to mentoring young talent was as important as his acting. He founded the Rudolph Walker Foundation to help disadvantaged young people access opportunities in the creative industries, and he used his platform to call for greater diversity both in front of and behind the camera.

For services to drama and charity he was appointed a CBE — recognition of a life spent advancing both art and community. The family message you shared — attributed to his son Darren — speaks to a long, private struggle with cancer and to a final resting “with God.”

Those intimate words underline how a hugely public career sat alongside very human trials: the laughter and the craft audiences saw, and the courage and love known to family and close friends.