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HOME > Miscellaneous Reality TVBritish reality TV star pioneer Margaret Wilkins dies at age 73
Margaret Wilkins -- who is credited as being one of Britain's first reality television stars when she appeared in the 1974 series The Family -- has died. She was 73.
"She may be gone in voice and body and her finger will no longer wag at us 'Do it my way or you'll be sorry," The Family producer Paul Watson told The Mirror. "But her smile, twinkling eyes, quick wit and wise words will forever be in our minds."
Wilkins, her husband Terry and their children Gary, Marian, Heather and Chris starred in The Family, a 12-week series that followed the working-class family as they went about their daily lives in their cramped apartment above a small grocery store in Reading, Berkshire. (The Family shouldn't be confused with An American Family, the groundbreaking 1973 PBS series which followed the Loud family, who many consider America's own first reality stars.) While 10 million viewers regularly watched The Family, according to The Mirror, Wilkins' behavior was considered to be crude by some and prompted infamous British activist Mary Whitehouse to call for the show's cancellation. Among the things Wilkins was reportedly criticized for were her foul language, discussions surrounding taboo subjects, and reducing then 9-year-old Chris to tears by revealing he was actually the result of her affair with the local garbage man. "We didn't see anything wrong with the way we lived," Wilkins had explained previously, according to The Mirror. "We were pioneers, the first real-life family to be on TV and no one else will ever be as good." Wilkins' 26-year marriage ended shortly after the show aired, but she went on to remarry, according to The Mirror. Her funeral service was held at Reading Crematorium on Monday. |
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