John Altman – Nick Cotton from EastEnders

At the age of 69, the ever-young John Altman has decided to let go of the leather jacket, but he’s still ready to rock! In fact, he was once the frontman of the well-established British glam-rock act Heavy Metal Kids. But the fans know Altman mainly for his long run in EastEnders. He portrayed the character of Nick Cotton between 1985 and 2015.

Cotton was an on-and-off EastEnders character who met his tragic fate (dying from substance abuse) in the soap’s 30th-anniversary episode. It was the end of an era but a new beginning to Altman, who has since worked in Lucas and Albert, This Is Now, and Unsinkable.