Babs had a photographic memory... which made illness even more tragic
EastEnders’ Martine on loss of pal
MARTINE McCutcheon has told how she loved working with Barbara Windsor – and revealed the star had an ‘almost photographic’ memory before Alzheimer’s took hold.
The pair worked together in the mid1990s after Martine joined EastEnders as Tiffany a year after Dame Barbara took on the legendary role of Queen Vic landlady, Peggy Mitchell.
Tiffany would go on to marry Peggy’s son Grant – played by Ross Kemp.
Martine loved appearing alongside Barbara and says: “I worked with her before as a kid and she still worked the same when I met her again at 18.
“She had a folder. It was highlighted and she knew what we were doing when, what day of the week for rewrites… she’d be on top of everything.
“Her memory was, ironically, almost photographic so we’d remember the lines like that. She was the most professional person I ever worked with, the ultimate professional.
“She did not suffer fools. If you were doing the job, you had to be on it.
“She was like a mentor – I’d watch how she would be prepared.”
Martine also reveals how Barbara made sure she was never exploited, both on and off-set.
“She was a real voice of reason and moral compass in an industry she knew inside out, back to front,” says Martine.
“She knew all about how women were treated in the industry and how you survive that and do it your way.
“I remember her saying, ‘Let people think you are less intelligent then you are, and you are less fabulous than you are, because you’ll only surprise them, darling’. Sometimes it is best [to let people underestimate you] and her being blonde, booby, wideeyed… she was on it.”
Alzheimer’s would, sadly, drag Barbara down and she died in
December, aged 83. Fans have since donated almost £161,000 on a website set up in Barbara’s memory by her devoted husband Scott Mitchell, 58.
The site also has a book of condolence and all funds will go to Alzheimer’s Research UK to support the search for breakthrough treatments.
Martine’s memories of Barbara and EastEnders are all good – though she admits that working on the BBC soap was a tough gig.
The actress says: “It was the hardest
job I did. You’d be there 6am for make-up, out by quarter to eight, learn your lines again and off again for another 22 scenes. It was intense… to this day, the toughest job I did.
“People say, ‘Would you love to go back?’ and I say, ‘Noooo!’
After the soap, Martine, who is mum to Rafferty, six, went on to star in hit movie Love Actually and have a successful singing career.
She has also just signed as a model with the Elite agency.
Speaking to fashion website The Outnet, she adds: “I might be being biased, but I do feel like I had the best of it. The golden years when Top of the Pops was being filmed and the rock stars all knew who you were.”
She was a real voice of reason and a moral compass in the industry MARTINE McCUTCHEON ON SOAP MENTOR BABS