Queen Vic’s landlady Barbara is battling Alzheimer’s
BARBARA Windsor is one of those stars who cut across the generational divide. To some she will always be the ditsy, buxom blonde in the Carry On films. To others, she’ll remain the bottle-blonde Cockney sparrow landlady of the Queen Vic in EastEnders. Her character, Peggy Mitchell was best known for her catchphrase: ‘Get out of my pub!’
When she’s out and about offscreen, she is constantly approached by people who want to talk to her.
Having a personality that’s every bit as ebullient as her on-screen characters, Barbara has always, until recently, been happy to chat to anyone who approaches her as though they’re her oldest friend.
Until recently. These days, going out into the wider world has become a growing nightmare for her. She’s found it frightening and bewildering.
And people, inevitably, had started to ask questions about her wellbeing. That is why her husband Scott Mitchell, 55, took the difficult decision to reveal what only her closest friends and family have known since 2014: Barbara has Alzheimer’s.
The news that she has this cruel, progressive illness has come as a shock to her many fans. For though she is 80 now, she has always exuded a bubbly youthfulness.
One of the few people who have been aware of her fight is Paul Bennett, a close friend for more than 30 years. ‘I spoke to Scott last week and he said she had gone downhill rapidly over the past couple of weeks,’ he said.
‘I talked to Barbara as well and she just said: “I’m not so well now”. ’
Mr Bennett says Barbara was deeply upset by the death of entertainer Dale Winton, aged 62, last month. The pair had known each other for years and were very close. ‘I think she took that quite badly,’ he says.
‘Since the diagnosis, there have been up days and down days, but I think there are more down days now than up days. But she still goes out. Two weeks ago she went to see the Tina Turner musical.’
Scott said: ‘I want the public to know this, because they are very drawn to Barbara and she loves talking to them.
‘So rather than me living in fear she might get upset, they’ll know if her behaviour seems strange, it’s due to Alzheimer’s.’
Barbara first noticed something was wrong in 2009 when she began having difficulty memorising her lines in EastEnders, which she joined in 1994.
A true professional who made her stage debut aged just 13, she had always prided herself on learning her lines on time and being able to pull off a scene in one or two takes.
She admitted in an interview in 2012 she was finding it frustrating. ‘You hit an age when you have to study that bit harder,’ she said.
After leaving the soap in 2009, she returned for one episode in 2013, another in 2014 and another in 2015.
One of the many showbusinees personalities who posted tweets yesterday in support of Barbara was TV star Lorraine Kelly who said: ‘I hope she knows how much she is loved.’
A sentiment that will be shared by her fans everywhere.