Wendy Beckett

British Catholic nun and presenter of documentaries for the BBC on the history of art (1930-2018)

Wendy Beckett (25 February 1930 – 26 December 2018), better known as Sister Wendy, was a British nun, television personality and art historian. She was born in South Africa.

Beckett became famous during the early 1990s when she presented a series of BBC television documentaries on the history of art. Her programmes, such as Sister Wendy's Odyssey and Sister Wendy's Grand Tour, often drew a 25 percent share of the British viewing audience.[1]

In 1997, Sister Wendy first appeared on television in the United States, on public television. That same year The New York Times described her as "a sometime hermit who is fast on her way to becoming the most unlikely and famous art critic in the history of television".[2]

Beckett died on 26 December 2018 at the Carmelite Monastery in Quidenham, Norfolk at the age of 88.[3]

References

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  1. "Sister Wendy Beckett - British nun and art critic". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  2. Palko Karasz (27 December 2018). "Sister Wendy Beckett, Nun Who Became a BBC Star, Dies at 88". The New York Times. p. B12.
  3. "Sister Wendy Beckett, TV art historian, dies at 88". BBC News. 26 December 2018.