Queen of the Vic
MEETING PM Boris gives Babs a smacker
DUCHESS Barbara on a bus with Kate
LASTING friendships are rare in showbiz but Barbara Windsor’s positivity, generosity and infectious laugh made entertainment pals fall in love with her for ever.
From her secret and supportive friendship with the late singer Amy Winehouse to sharing quick-witted innuendoes with Larry Lamb and raucous holidays with Christopher Biggins, the famous people who knew Dame Babs all adored her.
When Pat St Clement heard she was joining the cast of EastEnders in 1994 she felt star-struck by the petite actress whose fame spanned five decades.
“It was such an extraordinary thing when we knew Barbara was coming,” said Pat. “I felt like curtsying.”
While her new castmates didn’t know
POIGNANT Final scene in 2016 it at the time, veteran film star Barbara was as nervous as a newcomer.
She remembered her first day on the EastEnders set: “I was so petrified I was literally ill. I was being driven up by my boyfriend, and we had to stop because I needed some fresh air.
“I’d really thought I’d known the score about television, but for God’s sake, 27 million people watched that first episode I appeared in! I’m essentially a theatre lady and I couldn’t think of an audience in terms of millions at a go.”
Of course Barbara, who had been acting since the age of 15, soon became an Albert Square favourite. At 4ft 10in tall, her role as Peggy Mitchell saw her fame reach new heights and strengthened her status as a national treasure. But only after Babs persuaded bosses Peggy needed a few changes. “A few
RAISING A GLASS As Peggy in the Queen Vic in 1995
things weren’t quite right about Peggy at the beginning,” she said. “I was particularly worried about how the character was viewed by the producer and writers. I saw her as much ballsier.
“Luckily, a new producer agreed with me that anybody who raised Phil, Grant, and Samantha must be a mad cow!”
Playing EastEnders’ steely landlady updated the image of Barbara giggling in a bikini in the Carry On films.
And anyone who expected Dame Barbara to be as vivacious, glamorous and bubbly as she was in her youthful film roles was never disappointed.
EastEnders co-star Lamb described his hilarious first meeting with the star. He said: “She just said to me, ‘Oh, you’re so tall. But we’re all the same size when we’re on our backs, aren’t we?”
Three-times married Barbara adored
We would take hours to reach our table as she would talk to everyone
every minute of being well known but knew it was a two-way street.
When Peggy developed breast cancer, Barbara wrote many letters of advice to viewers wh o contacted her about their own battle with the disease.
She also mentored younger or troubled stars, and befriended Winehouse when she attended a rehab clinic near her London home and she spotted the singer having a cigarette outside.
Barbara invited her in and said: “Whenever she was there, she knew she could come and see us.”
Biggins, who became friends with Barbara 30 years ago on a theatre tour, remembered she was always friendly and glamorous.
He said: “Whenever we went out for dinner, we’d take about six hours to reach our table because she’d talk to absolutely everyone. And that even happened when we were on holiday together in Venice.
“Whenever anyone called on her, they’d find Barbara in full make-up, in a beautiful outfit and jewellery with her hair perfectly done.”
Babs kept her 2014 diagnosis secret but her husband Scott persuaded EastEnders to kill off her iconic character after 22 years when memorising scripts became too difficult.
He went public with her illness in
CHRISTOPHER BIGGINS ON DINING OUT WITH BABS
NICE TO SEE YOU