Sister Wendy Beckett Dies: Hermetic Nun-Turned-BBC Documentary Star Was 88
David Rose/Shutterstock Sister Wendy Beckett, a cloistered nun with a mandate of self-d..
David Rose/Shutterstock
Sister Wendy Beckett, a cloistered nun with a mandate of self-denial who became a BBC documentary star almost by accident while in her 60s, died Wednesday in East Harling, England. She was 88.
She was living a hermits life in a windowless trailer at an English monestery, praying for hours upon hours and venturing outside only for Mass and to get books from a mobile library. That is until producer Nicholas Rossiter got Sister Wendy to talk about the paintings in Britains National Gallery for a 1991 BBC documentary. She and Moving Art were an instant hit.
The art historian ffollowed up with Sister Wendys Odyssey the following year, which built on her unlikely stardom. The miniseries in which she talked about museums in England and Scotland drew 3.5 million viewers. Audiences then and going forward were fascinated by her human tales that brought art to life — though critics were less kind.
Sister Wendy continued to do eponymous TV series into her 80s, marked by perhaps her most ambitious program, Sister Wendys Story of Painting. That 1997 series took her 30,000 miles through Europe, the Middle East and the U.S. to talk about works ranging from prehistoric cave paintings to Picasso and Pop Art. It also aired Stateside.
Along with leading a dozen documentaries, she also authored more than two dozen books.
