Sian Blake

Sian Samantha Blake (14 September 1972 – 14 or 15 December 2015), also known by her stage name Syan Blake, was a British actress, best known for playing Frankie Pierre on the BBC soap opera EastEnders, appearing in 56 episodes between 1996 and 1997. She later had minor roles in other television shows, before retiring to become a sign language teacher and interpreter.

Blake and her two children were reported missing on 16 December 2015; three weeks later their bodies were found at Blake's home in Erith, London. Her partner, Arthur Simpson-Kent, pleaded guilty to murdering them and was given a whole life sentence in October 2016.

Early life and career

Blake was born in Walthamstow, London on 14 September 1972, and attended the Guildford School of Acting. The youngest of three children, her father was Jamaican. Her parents divorced when she was six, and her father died from a heart attack when she was eighteen. Adopting the stage name Syan Blake, she landed her first acting role in 1994, playing a bulimia patient in that year's Christmas episode of Casualty.

After working as a telephone receptionist at a doctor's surgery, Blake landed her most notable role: soul singer Frankie Pierre, a character who appeared in EastEnders during 1996 and 1997. She initially auditioned for the minor part of a nurse, but was encouraged to audition for the more long-term role of Frankie after impressing producers. She was initially signed on a six-month contract, but subsequently had her contract extended. One of the character's central storylines involved an affair with a regular male character which ended his on-screen marriage. Blake subsequently said that she left the series after receiving hate mail from viewers who found it difficult to separate fact from fiction.