Everything about Wendy Richard totally explained
Wendy Richard MBE (born
Wendy Emerton on
20 July 1943) is an
English actress, best known for playing
Miss Brahms in
Are You Being Served? from 1972 to 1985, and
Pauline Fowler in
EastEnders from 1985 to 2006. She was educated at two fee-paying independent schools: first at the
Royal Masonic School for Girls in
Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, and then at the
Italia Conti Academy stage school in London.
Career
She first became familiar to TV audiences playing Joyce Harker, a regular in the
BBC's 1960s
soap opera,
The Newcomers. She has also appeared in
Dad's Army (first as Edith Parrish, and later as
Private Walker's girl-friend Shirley),
Up Pompeii! and
The Likely Lads. Richard also appeared in two
Carry On films, playing a cameo role in
Carry On Matron and a supporting part in
Carry On Girls. In 1962, her distinct
cockney vocals also helped get her to #1 on the
UK singles chart — uncredited, on the single, "
Come Outside", by
Mike Sarne. She also appears in a missing scene on the Beatles 1965 movie 'Help!'. Her scene is on the special features DVD. However, she doesn't appear in the final version of the movie.
Richard's first appearance in a television series was as a teenager in
Stranger on the Shore which debuted in 1961. The theme tune of the series was the
Acker Bilk clarinet solo of the same name. She is probably best known for her role in the
1970's sitcom
Are You Being Served? as
Miss Shirley Brahms, a sales representative with a heavy
Cockney accent. (Richard also appeared in the
Are You Being Served? sequel
Grace & Favour in 1992 and 1993.) Richard subsequently found continued success as heroine and matriarch
Pauline Fowler on the BBC
soap opera EastEnders, a role she played from the first episode in 1985 until the character's death at Christmas of 2006. On
July 10 2006, the BBC announced that Richard had decided to leave
EastEnders, after nearly 22 years in the show. An interview with
The Sun revealed that problems with the
EastEnders storyline (primarily her marriage to
Joe Macer) was the main cause for her departure.
In 2004, Richard was referred to as "the worst wanker of them all" during Leslie Grantham's now infamous webcam chat to an undercover reporter.
In late 2006, Richard was seen as a guest presenter on the
BBC's
City Hospital series and on
March 31,
2007, she presented the documentary
A tribute to John Inman, for
BBC2.
She has also given interviews for the first time in a number of years, making appearances on
Big Brother's Little Brother,
Loose Women,
Parkinson and the
Biography Channel special
Gloria's Greats with
Gloria Hunniford amongst others.
In April 2007, Richard announced that she'd be appearing in a new role for the first time since leaving
Eastenders. She is to play a part in a new
Sitcom penned by David Croft called
Here Comes The Queen. The project came about after she personally asked her good friend Croft to write something for her. Richard has commented that "the part is like an older version of Miss Brahms".
In September 2007, it was announced that Richard was to join the second series of
ITV1's
Sitcom Benidorm playing a “loud-mouthed, rude” wheelchair-bound character.
In 2007, Richard was awarded a
British Soap Award for
Lifetime Achievement for her role in Eastenders.
In January
2008, adverts for
The Post Office began to be shown, with her appearing.
In February
2008, she landed the role of Mrs. Crump in the episode
A Pocket Full of Rye of the
Marple TV series starring
Julia McKenzie.
Personal life
Richard endured a long battle with
breast cancer in the early
1990s. Her cancer went into remission after years of treatment. She was given a clean bill of health in 2005. Articles about her departure from
EastEnders suggest her health challenges didn't play any role in her decision to leave the series. Richard later revealed she left because of stress and that she's stress-free since leaving the show. She still keeps touch with co-stars
Natalie Cassidy,
Todd Carty, and
James Alexandrou.
During the premiership of
Margaret Thatcher, Richards was a frequent and conspicuous supporter of Thatcher's policies and achievements. At one point the
EastEnders script writers gave Richard a script in which Pauline Fowler launched into a vicious tirade against Thatcher; Richards refused to perform this sequence, accusing the scripters of using the series as a soapbox for their own political opinions.
Richard lives with John Burns, her partner of 12 years and 20 years her junior, in the
Marylebone area of London. She has been married 3 times; all sadly ended in divorce.
Her close friend and
Are You Being Served? co-star
John Inman bequeathed his entire Dame memorabilia collection to her in his will.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Wendy Richard'.
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