Cindy Williams is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, that has been played by four actresses since being introduced in 1998.
), enter a relationship with Liam Butcher (James Forde), and struggle as a teenage mother to daughter Beth Williams.
On 18 July 2013, it was announced that Cindy would return to the series as a regular character, with Mimi Keene taking over the role.
Cindy leaves her home in Devon to join her half-siblings Peter (Ben Hardy) and Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater) in Walford.
When Cindy is 14 years old, she breaks into Ian's house in Walford, wanting to see her half-brother Peter Beale (Ben Hardy) about something that happened in Devon.
Cindy is difficult, stealing money from Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden)[1] and winning the Miss Teen Vic beauty pageant by persuading Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker) to rig the votes.
[2] Despite having attracted the attention of Liam Butcher (James Forde), she has a one-night stand with TJ Spraggan (George Sargeant).
A heavily pregnant Cindy returns to Walford and meets Ian, who is trying to reconcile with fiancée Denise Fox (Diane Parish).
He shows little interest until he notices Cindy is in labour, and she admits that she ran away after discovering Gina and Bev were planning to have her baby adopted.
Former police officer Emma Summerhayes (Anna Acton) tries to get information from Cindy in her grief about her involvement in Lucy's death, but fails.
Jane says that she killed Lucy following a row, but Ian realises she must be lying and works out the actual killer is his young son Bobby Beale (Eliot Carrington).
[4] Jane admits to protecting Bobby after seeing him standing over Lucy with the jewelry box, and moving her body to where it was found on Walford Common.
She contemplates leaving Walford for good due to feeling nobody wants her, but Liam convinces her to go home and reunite with her family.
Later, Cindy snaps and hires a hitman to kill Ian; when this proves unsuccessful she flees the country with the help of David and Barry Evans (Shaun Williamson), taking Steven and Peter to Italy.
[5][6] A couple of years later, viewers see her begin an affair with businessman Nick Holland (Dominic Taylor), before she is tracked by a private investigator, with her sons abducted and taken back to Britain.
After gaining custody of her children, she is arrested moments later for attempted murder when Ian's associates persuade the hitman, John Valecue (Steve Weston), to tell the police that Cindy has hired him.
Although she has become pregnant with Nick's child, he abandons her in prison after realizing her true nature and knowing she is guilty of shooting Ian.
[7][8] As the soap opera progresses, Cindy Beale later gives birth to her daughter (Ella Wortley and Cydney Parker) off-screen in prison, but Ian is informed that she has died in childbirth from an embolism.
[10] On 18 July 2013, EastEnders revealed that Cindy would be returning, with the role recast to actress Mimi Keene, who had previously performed in Kin at London's Royal Court Theatre during 2010, before starring in Sadie J and war drama Our Girl.
[16] Despite this, Keene went on to be nominated in 2014 in the category of "Best Young Performance" at the British Soap Awards for her portrayal of Cindy, but lost to Hollyoaks child actor Ellis Hollins.
Howell branded Keene's performance as "one of the most powerful, and convincing labour scenes [Unreality TV] have ever seen", and stated that whilst many women had portrayed childbirth in the soaps over the years, given Keene's age and limited experience in soap acting, felt it was worth "a massive mention at just how well this young girl handled something quite as dramatic as the birth of her on-screen daughter.