Steve Robert McFadden (né Reid; born 20 March 1959) is an English actor whose career has spanned three decades. He rose to prominence for his role as Phil Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, which he has played since 1990. Regarded as one of the show's most popular characters, he has received numerous accolades including the British Soap Award for Outstanding Achievement. McFadden was also the presenter of the game show Britain's Hardest (2004).

McFadden was born in Maida Vale, London, on 20 March 1959. He left school in 1975, and had short stints in jobs including labouring, carrot picking, plumbing and working at a builder's merchant. After attending university, McFadden decided that he wanted to become an actor, and was accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1984, graduating in 1987.

In 1988, McFadden had an uncredited brief appearance in the film Buster as a gang member. He played a small role in the 1989 BBC television film The Firm, and this was followed by appearances in the television series The Bill, Minder and Bergerac.

McFadden then began portraying the role of Phil Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. He joined EastEnders at the beginning of 1990, at the same time as Ross Kemp, who played Phil's younger brother Grant Mitchell. During that time, his character was involved in numerous iconic storylines, such as Sharongate (in which it was revealed that he had an affair with his brother's wife Sharon) in 1994, and the Who Shot Phil? storyline in March 2001, when his character was shot and wounded by a mystery attacker.

McFadden then made an appearance in the film Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000), and starred in an episode of the BBC anthology series Murder in Mind in 2001. He left EastEnders in late 2003 for a one-year break to concentrate on pantomimes. His character was written out of the series after being framed for an armed robbery by Den Watts (played by Leslie Grantham), and going on the run after breaking out of prison.

During his break from EastEnders, he presented the reality television series Britain's Hardest, which was an underground competition broadcast on Sky One. He returned to EastEnders for two episodes in April 2005. In the story, Phil returned to Walford in need of financial help, only to be arrested and returned to prison. In October 2005, he returned on a permanent basis, after his character was cleared of armed robbery. In 2007, he appeared in the film Provoked. He has also appeared as Captain Hook in a pantomime production of Peter Pan from 2010 to 2011 at The Swan.

McFadden has five children. His son Matt McFadden's mother is Sue Marshall, and Angela Bostock is the mother of his daughters Teona and Mollie Jane. Rachel Sidwell gave birth to his daughter Amelie Tinkerbell on 29 June 2009. At the time, she was his partner, but the couple split two months later. A fifth child, a daughter named Frankie, was born to his girlfriend Karen Cairns in June 2016.

In 1996, McFadden was banned from driving for 18 months and fined £1000 plus £350 in costs after pleading guilty to drink-driving after attending a party at a London nightclub.

McFadden is a sailor, and took part in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant in his motorboat, Barbara. In 2014, he sued the Metropolitan Police and News of the World after a police officer sold details about him to the newspaper. He sued News of the World after one of their journalists admitted trying to intercept his voicemail messages in the News International phone hacking scandal. McFadden stated "I am particularly concerned that a police officer sold my privacy to a tabloid newspaper for profit. I consider the payment of damages and public apology will go some way to ensuring respect for my and others' privacy in future. I am glad to have been vindicated and to be able to put this matter behind me".

McFadden, in his role as Phil Mitchell, is a recurrent character in the satirical collages by Cold War Steve, the Twitter handle of artist Christopher Spencer. Spencer's Twitter feed was originally called McFadden's Cold War and then later renamed as Cold War Steve. McFadden has appeared in over a hundred of the artworks.

Year	Title	Role
1988	Buster	Gang Member
1990	Happy Birthday, Coronation Street!	Himself
1998	EastEnders: The Mitchells - Naked Truths	Phil Mitchell
2000	Kevin & Perry Go Large	Bouncer 2
2001	Brit Awards 2001	Phil Mitchell
	Comic Relief: Say Pants to Poverty
2003	EastEnders: Slaters in Detention
	Comic Relief 2003: The Big Hair Do
2005	2005 TV Moments	Himself
2006	Provoked	DS Ron Meyers
2007	The Big Fat Quiz of the Year	Himself
	The 2nd TVNow Awards
	EastEnders Feuds: The Beales vs. The Mitchells	Phil Mitchell
2008	The British Soap Awards 2008: The Party	Himself
2010	EastEnders Live: The Aftermath
	EastEnders: Last Tango in Walford	Phil Mitchell
2011	The National Television Awards: Party 2011	Himself
	EastEnders: Greatest Exits
2012	Farewell Pat	Phil Mitchell
	EastEnders: Phil on Remand
2016	Bobby Beale: The Story So Far
	EastEnders: Last Orders	Himself
	EastEnders - The Last Goodbye	Phil Mitchell
2018	The Best of EastEnders
2021	Kurupting the Industry: The People Just Do Nothing Story	Himself

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Minder	Mickey	Episode: "It's a Sorry Lorry Morrie"
	Screen Two	Billy	Episode: "The Firm"
	The Bill	Gun Dealer 2	Episode: "Bad Company"
	Vote for Them	Staff Sgt. Ballantine	3 episodes
	Hard Cases	Workman	Episode: "Series 2, episode 5"
	Saracen	Nash	Episode: "Crossfire"
1990	Bergerac	Jones	Episode: "Roots of Evil"
1990-2003, 2005-present	EastEnders	Phil Mitchell	Regular role
1993	Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time		2 episodes
1994, 1997, 1999	This Is Your Life	Himself	3 episodes
1996, 2005, 2007, 2010-2011	National Television Awards		5 episodes
1998	Best of British		Episode: "Barbara Windsor"
	TFI Friday		Episode: "Series 4, episode 13"
1999, 2006-2009, 2017, 2022	The British Soap Awards		7 episodes
2001	Auntie's Bloomers	Phil Mitchell	Episode: "New Bursting Bloomers"
	Murder in Mind	Joe Waterman	Episode: "Flame"
2002, 2007-2009, 2012	EastEnders Revealed	Himself	6 episodes
2005	Comic Relief Does Fame Academy		Episode: "Series 2, episode 6"
2006	Sex, Lies & Soaps	Phil Mitchell	Episode: "Bad Behaviour"
2006, 2016	Screenwipe		2 episodes
2006, 2009, 2018	This Morning	Himself	3 episodes
2007	Would I Lie to You?	Phil Mitchell	Episode: "Series 1, episode 2"
2009-2010	EastEnders Revealed		Episode: "The Sins of Archie Mitchell"
2009	Loose Women	Himself	Episode: "Series 14, episode 6"
2010	Rude Tube	Phil Mitchell	Episode: "Rude Tunes"
	EastEnders: The Greatest Cliffhangers	Himself	Episode: "Series 1, episode 2"
		Phil Mitchell
	Piers Morgan's Life Stories	Himself	Episode: "Barbara Windsor"
		Phil Mitchell
2016	Lorraine	Himself	Episode: "4 October 2016"
	The One Show	Phil Mitchell	Episode: "Peggy Mitchell Special"
2018	South at Six		Episode: "23 November 2018"
2020	EastEnders: Secrets from the Square		5 episodes
	The Noughties	Himself	Episode: "2001"
2020-2021	What We Were Watching	Phil Mitchell	2 episodes

Year	Award	Category	Result
2001	National Television Awards	Most Popular Actor	Nominated
	British Soap Awards	Villain of the Year	Won
	Inside Soap Awards	Best Actor	Nominated
		Best Bad Boy	Nominated
		Most Dramatic Storyline (Who Shot Phil?)	Won
2002	National Television Awards	Most Popular Actor	Nominated
	British Soap Awards	Best Actor	Nominated
		Villain of the Year	Nominated
2003		Best Actor	Nominated
		Villain of the Year	Nominated
	Inside Soap Awards	Best Actor	Won
2006	British Soap Awards		Nominated
		Villain of the Year	Nominated
		Spectacular Scene of the Year (skip crashes onto Phil Mitchell's car)	Nominated
	Inside Soap Awards	Best Actor	Nominated
		Best Family (Mitchell family)	Won
2007	TV Choice Awards	Best Soap Actor	Nominated
	TV Now Awards	Male Soap Star	Won
2008	British Soap Awards	Spectacular Scene of the Year (Phil Mitchell's car rolling into a lake)	Nominated
	Digital Spy Soap Awards	Best Single Episode (Phil Mitchell and Stella Crawford's wedding)	Won
2009	British Soap Awards	Best Actor	Nominated
2010	TV Now Awards	Favourite Male Soap Star	Nominated
		Favourite Soap Family (Mitchell family)	Nominated
2012	All About Soap Awards	Best Mystery (Who's Stalking Phil Mitchell?)	Nominated
2016	British Soap Awards	Outstanding Achievement Award	Won
		Best Male Dramatic Performance	Nominated
	Inside Soap Awards	Best Soap Actor	Won
2017	British Soap Awards	Best Male Dramatic Performance	Nominated

• Steve McFadden at IMDb 
• Steve McFadden discography at Discogs