Anna Wing, who played sharp-tongued EastEnders matriach Lou Beale, has died aged 98.
The star, who died on Sunday, appeared in the BBC1 soap for three years from its start in 1985.
She formed a formidable on-screen partnership with fellow actress Gretchen Franklin who played Ethel Skinner.
She received the MBE in 2009 in recognition of a career that spanned more than six decades of television, film, radio and theatre.
Speaking at the time, she said: “I wanted to be an actress when I was a little girl and everybody said no, but I did it. I stuck it out and I’ve done it for 70 years and I’m still working.”
She appeared in The Bill aged 92 playing a feisty pensioner caught up in a drug deal.
Adam Woodyatt, who plays her grandson, Ian Beale, described Wing as “a wonderful lady”.
He said: “I worked with Anna on Witches And The Grinnygog before she became my gran in EastEnders. I remember one episode in particular number 16 we had a seven-page scene for the cliff-hanger, Ian pouring his heart out to his gran. It was the first time I had to cry on screen and I was terrified I wouldn’t be able to do it. Anna was so helpful, happy to rehearse it over and over again and put me completely at ease. Sure enough the tears flowed from nowhere and it was the first time Julia’s Theme was used at the end of an episode. I have so many fond memories of her, my thoughts are with her family and friends.”
June Brown, who plays Dot Cotton, said it was a “pleasure” to work with Wing.
She said: “She was a very generous woman in many ways and an excellent actress who made a script her own, lifting the character off the page and made it quite different from what you’d have expected.
“Anna had a true old-fashioned cockney accent like my grandma. I always enjoyed her company and she often asked me to stay with her, saying that I could smoke on the landing! Anna always thought well of everyone and she loved and enjoyed her children and grandchildren. I was very fond of her indeed and will remember Anna with great affection always.”
Wing, who appeared in the first episode of the long-running soap, featured in 232 episodes before her character was written out.
A spokeswoman for the show said: “We are deeply saddened to hear that Anna Wing has passed away. From the very first episode of EastEnders, Anna created one of the most iconic matriarchs in television history.
“The character of Lou Beale is still so entrenched in EastEnders history and, without Anna, the Beale family would never have been the focal point that it is today.
“Anna will be remembered fondly by everyone at EastEnders and our deepest sympathies are extended to her family and friends.”