Wendy Richard

Infobox actor
name = Wendy Richard MBE


imagesize = 200px
caption =
birthdate = Birth date and age|1943|7|20|df=yes
location = Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England
height =
birthname = Wendy Emerton
othername =
spouse = Leonard Blach (1972–74)
Will Thorpe (1980–84)
Paul Glorney (1990–94)
John Burns (2008–Present) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7662967.stm]

notable role = Shirley Brahms in "Are You Being Served?"
Pauline Fowler in "EastEnders"

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" (which also featured future EastEnders co-star, Barbara Windsor). 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 also had a bit part in a 1965 episode ("Don't Nail Him Yet") of "Danger Man" (aka "Secret Agent") with Patrick McGoohan. She is probably best known for her role in the 1970s 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. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5165860.stm Wendy Richard to leave "EastEnders"] "BBC News", URL last accessed on 2006-07-10.] An interview with "The Sun" revealed that problems with the "EastEnders" storyline (primarily Pauline's marriage to Joe Macer) was the main cause for her departure. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5252028.stm BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Richard 'quit soap over wedding' ] ]

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. [ [http://www.cantstopthebleeding.com/C667374186/E1136825261/ Dirty Den - Not Ready For His Close Up ] ]

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 would 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". [ [http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a44984/richard-returns-to-miss-brahms-style-role.html Television - News - Richard returns to Miss Brahms style role - Digital Spy ] ]

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 featuring Wendy (as a human cannonball) began to be shown.

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 two battles with breast cancer in the mid 1990s and then in 2002. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5166062.stm Wendy Richard's dramatic soap life] "BBC News", URL last accessed on 2007-03-08.] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/2236665.stm BBC News - EastEnders star has cancer] , retrieved 5 October 2008] Her cancer went into remission after years of treatment. She was given a clean bill of health in 2005. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/2236665.stm "EastEnders" star has cancer] "BBC News"] Articles about her departure from "EastEnders" suggest her health challenges did not play any role in her decision to leave the series and that it was because her character in the soap was to remarry, something she disagreed with. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5252028.stm BBC News - Richard 'quit soap over wedding'] , retrieved 5 October 2008] Richard later revealed she left because of stress and that she is stress-free since leaving the show. She still keeps touch with co-stars Natalie Cassidy, Todd Carty, and James Alexandrou. [ [http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/a91138/richard-explains-eastenders-exit.html Soaps - News - Richard explains 'EastEnders' exit - Digital Spy ] ]

During the premiership of Margaret Thatcher, Richard 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; Richard refused to perform this sequence, accusing the script writers of using the series as a soapbox for their own political opinions. Fact|date=October 2007

Richard lives with John Burns, her husband, 20 years her junior, in the Marylebone area of London. John and Wendy married on 10th October 2008 at a hotel in London's Mayfair. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7662967.stm BBC News - 'Dying' Richard marries partner] , retrieved 10 October 2008] She had been married previously 3 times; all ended in divorce. [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0723910/bio] It was revealed in the Sunday Express on 5 October 2008 that Wendy Richard had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. After seeing her oncologist in January 2008, cancer cells were found in her left armpit. Further investigation showed that this had spread to her left kidney and bones, then to her spine and left rib. [http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iKyosv2lQRadKh8yCyXu_Xn6npVg Press Association - Wendy Richard 'is dying of cancer'] , retrieved 4 October 2008]

References

* Autobiography: "Wendy Richard... No 'S' : My Life Story" ISBN 0-7432-1870-1.

External links

* [http://www.wendyrichardmbe.com/ Official website (email link only)]
*
* [http://pages.prodigy.net/glc/wrhp/html/ Wendy Richard Appreciation Page]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5166062.stm Wendy Richard's dramatic soap life] , "BBC News"
* [http://www.myparkmag.co.uk/articles/television/big-brother/wendy-richard-didnt-mean-to-be-racist-on-big-brother.html Video of Wendy Richard's alleged racist remark on Big Brother] . This video has since been removed.

Persondata
NAME = Richard, Wendy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Emerton, Wendy
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Actress
DATE OF BIRTH = 20 July 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH = Middlesbrough, England
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =