Death of Roberta Taylor: Star of “EastEnders” and “The Bill” dies at the age of 76

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Roberta Taylor, known for her roles in The bill And EastEndersdied at the age of 76.

Taylor suffered from the lung disease emphysema and died on July 6 after suffering an infection in a fall two months ago. Her condition subsequently worsened with pneumonia, reported The guard.

Taylor started out as a dentist’s assistant but took acting classes in her spare time until a friend suggested she try drama school in 1973. Taylor auditioned and was accepted into Central School on the same day as Peter Guinness, who later became her second husband.

Taylor worked at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre from 1980 to 1992, honing her craft while working on several plays, including Noel Coward’s Private lifeOscar Wilde’s An ideal husbandand Bertolt Brecht Mother CourageDuring this time she was also involved in a stage adaptation of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time (In Search of Lost Time) with the title Waste of timewhich also starred Rupert Everett and Gary Oldman.

The actress began her role as Irene Raymond in the BBC series EastEnders 1997, the matriarch of the Hills family. During her three years on the show, Irene had several romances, including one with Terry Raymond (played by Gavin Richards) and her young lodger Troy Harvey (played by Jamie Jarvis).

She played Irene until 2000 and explained when she left that the stress of filming a soap opera left her with too little time for herself.

“I always thought, ‘When can I learn my lines?’ I’ve dedicated a lot of my life to the show, and if I wanted to continue at this pace, I would have to continue to put my life on hold,” she said The mirror.

“I didn’t want to do anything half-heartedly. I had a lot of fun playing Irene and Gavin, who plays my on-screen husband Terry, and I got on really well.

“Irene was a complicated woman. I never knew what would happen next, but that’s life. We worked hard on our characters. People thought we were funny, but there was actually a lot of sarcasm behind it.”

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She then worked on the ITV series The billplays Inspector Gina Gold.

Taylor also appeared in television shows such as Accident, doctors, Scharman, Holby Town, Silent witnessAnd Inspector Morseand in films like The witches in 1990 and Tom and Viv in 1994.

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Her last major television series was Shakespeare and Hathaway in 2022.

Taylor published a memory of her childhood, Too many mothersin 2005, and a novel called The reinvention of Ivy Brown in 2008.

After the news of her death became known, condolences poured in.

Actor Nicholas Pegg wrote on X: “The beautiful, brilliant Roberta Taylor. Adored by millions for her roles in The Bill and EastEnders. Excellent in Shakespeare, Inspector Morse and everything in between. A great storyteller, a devil at Scrabble and a dear friend. Thoughts are with her family and beloved Pete.”

Kyri Zindilis, story producer at EastEnderswrote: “I am devastated to hear this – I adored Irene Raymond. We have this picture printed out and hanging on the wall in the story department and it always makes me smile. RIP Roberta Taylor.”