Roberta Taylor, who was known for her roles in EastEnders and The Bill, has died.
In a statement, her agent Roxane Vacaa said: “Sadly I can confirm that Roberta died on 6 July. She was 76.”
The London-born actress was popular with TV audiences for playing Irene Raymond in EastEnders between 1997 and 2000.
Her character was the matriarch of the Hills family and came with a number of compelling storylines.
After leaving Albert Square, Taylor returned to TV in 2002 as Inspector Gina Gold in ITV’s The Bill – a role she played for six years.
Taylor was also known for appearances in Luther, Casualty and Inspector Morse.
She also featured in the film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches as one of the malevolent magic practitioners, and in 2005 BBC period drama Bleak House.
Taylor enjoyed a distinguished theatre career, including with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Her final stage show was the musical Dusty in 2018, while she appeared in her final TV role as Gloria Fonteyn in the comedy Shakespeare & Hathaway for four years until 2022.
In 2005, the actress published her childhood memoirs, Too Many Mothers: An East End Childhood, in which she explored her family’s complex lives.
She previously told the TV Times magazine how she grew up in a “peculiar family” in which she and her siblings and cousins were “swapped” between her mother’s brothers and sisters.
EastEnders producer Kyri Zindilis posted a photo on X of Taylor with Pam St Clement and Barbara Windsor filming a episode of the soap in Spain.
He wrote: “Devastated to hear this – I adored Irene Raymond. We have this picture printed out and up on the wall in the Story Department, and it always makes me smile. RIP Robert Taylor. #EastEnders.”
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At the time of her death, Taylor was married to her second husband Peter Guinness, also an actor. She has one son Elliot with her former spouse Victor Taylor.
Taylor had suffered from emphysema and had a fall two months ago which led to worsening health and pneumonia, according to The Guardian.