List of EastEnders characters (1991)

The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 1991, by order of first appearance.

Eibhlin O'Donnell

Eibhlin O'Donnell, played by Mary Conlon, is an Irish woman who met and dated Eddie Royle (Michael Melia) in the early 80s, when her job for the Irish tourist board in Dublin took her to a London office for a six-month stint. Eibhlin was committed to her close-knit Catholic family (especially her widowed father and her marijuana-smoking sister Maureen), so when her work placement ended, she returned to Dublin and her relationship with Eddie ended. Eibhlin visits Eddie in Walford in January 1991. In her mid thirties, Eibhlin is thinking about settling down. She hopes to rekindle a romance with Eddie. When Eddie's current girlfriend, Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), sees how close Eddie and Eibhlin are, she breaks up with Eddie. Instead of reuniting with Eibhlin, Eddie opts to try and win Kathy back, so Eibhlin returns to Ireland. When Eddie is badly beaten by Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) in April 1991, Eibhlin returns to Walford to visit him in hospital. Eddie's brush with death makes him rethink marriage, and he proposes to Eibhlin. She accepts and in August 1991, she moves in with Eddie at The Queen Victoria public house, of which Eddie is landlord. A part of Eibhlin is not convinced that marriage to Eddie will work; they do not get the opportunity to find out as Eddie is murdered by Nick Cotton (John Altman) in September that year. A devastated and heartbroken Eibhlin then returns to Ireland.

Rachel

Rachel (Hebrew: רָחֵל, Modern Rakhél, Tiberian Rāḥēl) (Arabic: راحيل‎) was the favorite of Biblical patriarch Jacob's two wives as well as the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. The name "Rachel" is from an unused root meaning: "to journey as a ewe that is a good traveller." Rachel was the daughter of Laban and the younger sister of Leah, Jacob's first wife. Rachel was a niece of Rebekah (Jacob's mother), Laban being Rebekah's brother, making Jacob her first cousin.

Marriage to Jacob

Rachel is first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in Genesis 29 when Jacob happens upon her as she is about to water her father's flock. She was the second daughter of Laban, Rebekah’s brother. Jacob had traveled a great distance to find Laban. Rebekah had sent him there to be safe from his furious twin brother, Esau.

During Jacob's stay, Jacob fell in love with Rachel and agreed to work seven years for Laban in return for her hand in marriage. On the night of the wedding, the bride was veiled and Jacob did not notice that Leah, Rachel's older sister, had been substituted for Rachel. Whereas "Rachel was lovely in form and beautiful," "Leah had tender eyes". Later Jacob confronted Laban, who excused his own deception by insisting that the older sister should marry first. He assured Jacob that after his wedding week was finished, he could take Rachel as a wife as well, and work another seven years as payment for her. When God “saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb”, (Gen 29:31) and she gave birth to four sons.

Rachel Bluwstein

Rachel Bluwstein Sela (September 20 (Julian calendar), 1890 – April 16, 1931) was a Hebrew-language poet who immigrated to Palestine in 1909. She is known by her first name, Rachel, (Hebrew: רחל‎) or as Rachel the Poetess (Hebrew: רחל המשוררת‎).

Biography

Rachel was born in Saratov in Imperial Russia on September 20, 1890, the eleventh daughter of Isser-Leib and Sophia Bluwstein, and granddaughter of the rabbi of the Jewish community in Kiev. During her childhood, her family moved to Poltava, Ukraine, where she attended a Russian-speaking Jewish school and, later, a secular high school. She began writing poetry at the age of 15. When she was 17, she moved to Kiev and began studying painting.

At the age of 19, Rachel visited Palestine with her sister en route to Italy, where they were planning to study art and philosophy. They decided to stay on as Zionist pioneers, learning Hebrew by listening to children’s chatter in kindergartens. They settled in Rehovot and worked in the orchards. Later, Rachel moved to Kvutzat Kinneret on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where she studied and worked in a women's agricultural school. At Kinneret, she met Zionist leader A. D. Gordon who was to be a great influence on her life, and to whom she dedicated her first Hebrew poem. During this time, she also met and had a romantic relationship with Zalman Rubashov—the object of many of her love poems —who later became known as Zalman Shazar and was the third president of Israel.

Rachel (singer)

Rachel, born in Cavaillon, Vaucluse, is a French singer best known in Europe for representing France in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964.

Biography

She entered a singing competition organised by Mireille Hartuch who had invited Rachel to her 'Petit Conservatoire'.

She went on to sign a contract with the Barclay Records label, and released her first (45 rmp) recording entitled Les Amants Blessés in 1963.

In 1964, she represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen with her entry called "Le Chant de Mallory", which was her greatest hit. She did not win, but scored 14 points and finished in fourth place.

Discography

45 rpm

References