According to People, the Carmelite Monastery in Quidenham, England has confirmed the death of BBC star Sister Wendy Beckett. She was 88.
Edinburgh-raised Beckett joined the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur at 16. According to People, she earned a degree in English literature from Oxford in the '50s before earning permission to study art in the '80s independently. Per the BBC, she published her first book Contemporary Women Artists in 1988 in order to earn money for her convent.
It was several years later, in 1991, that Beckett would become a television star, via a BBC commissioned documentary at the National Gallery in London in which she spoke about the paintings. She has since starred in similar films such as Sister Wendy's Odyssey, Sister Wendy's Grand Tour and Sister Wendy's Story of Painting.
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Her work with the BBC turned her into a household name, and she has since published a total of 15 books.
Of her surprising celebrity status, Beckett told The New York Times:
''I've always been treated with sweetness and joy… The world has been my fwendy.''
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