Reg Cox

Reg Cox played by Johnnie Clayton was a minor character in EastEnders who appeared in 1 episode, the first ever episode, Episode 1 (19th February 1985). He was found almost dead in his dingy flat by Den Watts, Arthur Fowler and Ali Osman. He died in hospital shortly afterwards. Reg was only a minor character who never spoke but due to his death opening up the serial, he is one of the shows most memorable characters. Reg was later played by Marc Tufano in the spin-off Civvy Street. The character has also appeared in two books "Home Fires Burning" and "Swings and Roundabouts".

Backstory
Reg Cox was born in 1926 in Walford. He had an older sister. Reg grew up in Albert Square, Walford. he lived there all his life and as an adult he had a flat at No 23 Albert Square. As he got older he became more grumpy and turned into a cantankerous old man. In February 1985, local villain Nick Cotton beat him up in his flat and it was a couple of days before Reg was discovered.

Death
On the 19th February 1985, one sunny afternoon, 3 of Reg's neighbours, Den Watts, Ali Osman and Arthur Fowler broke into Reg's flat concerned for him. They saw him laying almost dead in his chair. Den phoned for an ambulance. Reg was taken to hospital but later died. He was 58 years of age.

After Death
In February 2000, Dot Cotton mentioned it was 15 years since Reg died.

In November 2014, Reg's killer Nick Cotton had been using Reg's name as an alias, over 29 years after Reg had died.

Almost 30 years later, just days short of the 30th anniversary of his death, in February 2015, it was revealed he had been beaten to death by Nick Cotton as Nick wanted his war medals. Nick died in the same spot Reg died at as he was in hiding at No 23.

Family
Siblings 1 sister

Appearances
1985


 * Episode 1 (19th February 1985)