One of her favourite stories at dinnertime – or any time of day, really – was how, while she was working as an artist's model during the Forties, one painter had thrown down his brush, rushed across the room, nibbled on her ear and whispered: “You’re temptation.” Her smile was a toothy grin that stretched from ear to ear and was often followed by one of her two signature laughs – like a naughty schoolgirl – “tee hee hee!” or the deeper: “Haw haw haw!”.
As ‘EastEnders’ celebrates 40 years since its characters first arrived on Albert Square, Roisin O'Connor remembers her grandmother Anna Wing, who became a household name as the formidable Lou Beale.
We’d be sat having lunch in a restaurant near her flat in west London and suddenly Dermot O’Leary would come in, take her hand and tell her what a fan he was – as if she were a Mafia boss and he was there to pay tribute – then dart out again.
She adored her grandchildren and would rave about us to anyone who’d listen – she’d have you convinced I was a child prodigy in art and music (“paints like an ANGEL”), and my younger brother was destined to be a star because he was “absolutely GORGEOUS”.
From what I heard and read about her character, and from the few clips I’ve seen of her on EastEnders, she was a lot like Lou Beale, and nothing like her at all.
