Wendy Richard Biography

Wendy Richard, born as Wendy Emerton, was an English actress best remembered for playing Miss Shirley Brahms in the sitcom ‘Are You Being Served?’ She was also known for appearing as Pauline Fowler in the soap opera ‘EastEnders’ for nearly 22 years. Born as the only child to her parents, Richard, alongside her family, frequently moved during her childhood. Her father committed suicide in 1954. She attended Royal Masonic School for Girls. Passionate about acting from a young age, she worked at Fortnum & Mason following high school to earn money to study theatre at Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. Richard first became known to the TV audiences in the 1960s when she started playing Joyce Harker in the BBC soap opera ‘The Newcomers’. She later did a number of television shows and also became moderately popular on the big screen. In her personal life, the actress was married four times. Her last marriage was with a painter cum decorator named John Burns, with whom she lived until her death. Richard suffered from breast cancer since 1996 and eventually died from it in February 2009. She had no children.