British media reported that the actress had twice fought bouts of breast cancer before the disease returned in an aggressive form and spread to other parts of her body.
She revealed in a newspaper interview in October that the disease was terminal and soon after she married long-term partner John Burns. She had married three times previously.
Richard's breakthrough television role was in 1970s sitcom "Are You Being Served?," in which she played a sales assistant with a heavy East London accent.
She joined "EastEnders" when the BBC program began in 1985 and remained until 2006, when her character died. Richard said that her departure was over objections to the storyline.
Mark Thompson, director general of the BBC, said: "Wendy Richard is going to be incredibly missed by the BBC and by our audiences."
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