Anna Wing Links

She was born in Hackney, London, and started out as an artist's model and later, during the Second World War, worked in East End hospitals. At 30, she married the actor Peter Davey, by whom she had a son, the actor-director Mark Wing-Davey, but the marriage ended in divorce after three years. She later had a long relationship with the poet Philip O'Connor.

She is well remembered for portraying the Beale and Fowler family matriarch Lou Beale in the BBC television series EastEnders from the show's inception in February 1985, until the character was killed off in July 1988. Anna quit her role in the hit show as she was unhappy with the direction it was going, but has since reflected that it may not have been the right decision.

An earlier soap appearance of hers was in Market in Honey Lane for ATV in the late 1960s; and she also had a role in Doctor Who in 1982. Other notable television credits include roles in Dixon of Dock Green, Z Cars, Play for Today and The Sweeney among countless others.

Since leaving EastEnders, she has worked on stage, playing the medium, Madame Arcati, in Noel Coward's comedy Blithe Spirit. She has also had numerous television roles, including parts in Casualty, Doctors, French and Saunders, The Bill as well as adding her vocal talents to the animated series Fungus the Bogeyman. She also had a part in the 2004 film The Calcium Kid with Orlando Bloom. Also in 2004 she played an Ancient Fairy in the film Tooth.

In May 2005 she made a public appearance at the British Soap Awards, where she presented June Brown with a life-time achievement award for her portrayal of Dot Branning in EastEnders.

In 2005, Wing formed part of the cast of the short film Ex Memoria, directed by Josh Appignanesi and produced by Oscar-winning producer Mia Bays. The short film tells of a woman's struggle with Alzheimer's Disease. Ex Memoria was nominated for a British Independent Film Award for Best Short in 2006. She plays Grandma in Son of Rambow: A Home Movie, made by the directors of the movie The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy.

Wing has radical political and religious views and has been associated with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Despite suffering from poor health in her later years Anna is still acting in her 93rd year, her most recent appearance being in The Bill during September 2007.