Gary Powell (born 10 September 1963) is a British actor. He is possibly best known for playing the character Laurie Bates in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Laurie made his first screen appearance in September 1989 as a love interest for Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), but the character was one of many to be written out of the serial early in 1990, following the introduction of executive producer, Michael Ferguson.