The End of an Earring

In January 2012, one of EastEnders' longest-serving and best-loved characters breathed her last when Pat Butcher succumbed to cancer. Her departure from the show gave actress Pam St Clement time to reflect, not only on almost 26 years playing a role that she loved, but also on her whole life.

Pam's mother died when she was a baby, leaving her with a father whose life didn't really have space for a child. What followed was an itinerant childhood, with various stepmothers and foster families, before an advertisement in The Lady took 11-year-old Pamela to the farm in Devon that was to become her true home, with the 'aunts' who became her surrogate parents. Time on the farm at Dartmoor, where she discovered her love of animals, alternated with life at The Warren boarding school in West Sussex, where she discovered her passion for acting.

On leaving school, Pam was unsure of what direction to take but gradually realised that acting was what she wanted to do with her life. So, in 1966, Pam took up a place at drama school. Pam settled in London and worked on stage and television throughout the sixties and seventies, before her first appearance on EastEnders in 1986 and the offer of a permanent role a few months later.

This memoir is far more than simply an actor's tale. Quite apart from her fascinating and unique childhood, Pam also recalls her involvement in the women's movement of the 1970s, her lifelong love of animals and the worries about her weight that have dogged her since her teenage years. It is also a tribute to Pat Butcher, for whom Pam retains a huge affection.

This incredibly warm memoir reveals the woman behind the popular EastEnders' character, a woman who, apart perhaps from her earrings, couldn't be more different from Pat.

“tells the story of Pam St Clement, who for 26 years played one of Britain's most iconic soap characters Pat Butcher.”

This Morning
Charts her life from her childhood to finding national fame in the show. Daily Mail

Pam St Clement was born in Middlesex in 1942. She spent her childhood between London, Devon and West Sussex, where she went to school. On leaving school she first settled on a profession teaching drama, but soon realised she would rather actually act. She trained at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in Sidcup, Kent. Her first professional acting role was with Brian Way's Theatre Centre, an innovative touring company that toured the UK visiting schools and youth clubs in the late 1960s. Film, theatre and television work followed over the next two decades, including work with Joan Littlewood at the Theatre Royal Stratford, a world tour of the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Hedda Gabbler , with a remarkable cast who remain friends to this day, and the TV prison drama Within These Walls.

She first appeared in EastEnders as Pat Wicks in 1985 before becoming a regular member of the cast in 1986. She left the show at the end of 2011, following a dramatic storyline in which Pat died of cancer.

She lives in the countryside. This is her first book.

Pam St Clement's memoir is far more than simply an actor's tale. Pam's earliest years were spent with her widowed father, various stepmothers, a foster family and at a holiday home, before an advertisement in The Lady took her to a farm in Devon, which was to become her true home. Dividing her time between the farm and her much-loved boarding school, it was during these years that Pam discovered her passion for acting. This led to a twenty-year career on stage and screen, before a three-week storyline on EastEnders transformed into a permanent role as the brassy Pat Wicks. This incredibly warm memoir reveals the woman behind the popular EastEnders character, who couldn't be more different from Pat.

In January 2012, one of EastEnders' longest-serving and best-loved characters breathed her last when Pat Butcher succumbed to cancer. Her departure from the show gave actress Pam St Clement time to reflect, not only on almost 26 years playing a role that she loved, but also on her whole life.Pam's mother died when she was a baby, leaving her with a father whose life didn't really have space for a child. What followed was an itinerant childhood, with various stepmothers and foster families, before an advertisement in The Lady took 11-year-old Pamela to the farm in Devon that was to become her true home, with the 'aunts' who became her surrogate parents. Time on the farm at Dartmoor, where she discovered her love of animals, alternated with life at The Warren boarding school in West Sussex, where she discovered her passion for acting.On leaving school, Pam was unsure of what direction to take but gradually realised that acting was what she wanted to do with her life. So, in 1966, Pam took up a place at drama school. Pam settled in London and worked on stage and television throughout the sixties and seventies, before her first appearance on EastEnders in 1986 and the offer of a permanent role a few months later.This memoir is far more than simply an actor's tale. Quite apart from her fascinating and unique childhood, Pam also recalls her involvement in the women's movement of the 1970s, her lifelong love of animals and the worries about her weight that have dogged her since her teenage years. It is also a tribute to Pat Butcher, for whom Pam retains a huge affection.This incredibly warm memoir reveals the woman behind the popular EastEnders' character, a woman who, apart perhaps from her earrings, couldn't be more different from Pat.

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