A Fabulous star: tributes as June Whitfield dies at 93

ACTRESS Dame June Whitfield has died at the age of 93.

The London-born actress, famous for her roles in Terry and June and Absolutely Fabulous, was a regular fixture on TV and radio for six decades, starring in Carry On films, Hancock’s Half Hour, and, more recently, Coronation Street and EastEnders.

Her agent confirmed she died “peacefully” on Friday night. She was widowed 16 years ago and is survived by her daughter Suzy.

TV producer Jon Plowman, who worked on Absolutely Fabulous, said there was “no-one with a better ability to just ‘place’ a line, always an act of utter precision”. He said she had been “fabulous” throughout her career.

Broadcaster Danny Baker hailed her as “formidable, dependable, inimitable. A rock. A gem”.

Comedian and impressionist Rory Bremner also paid tribute to Whitfield on Twitter, saying she was the “go-to comedy actress for three generations”. “From 60s radio to 70s, 80s, even 90s TV. Always graceful and elegant with a real comic glint in her eye and (absolutely) fabulous timing,” he added.

From her early radio appearances in the 1950s, through to her antics on Absolutely Fabulous, Whitfield featured in more than 1,300 radio and television shows.

She was made an OBE in 1985 and was given a damehood last year.

Last year, she revealed she moved into a care home after living on her own “in a big house for 10 years” following the death of her husband. “Now I have friends where I live and I like it. They’re fun,” she said.

She recently gave an interview saying she couldn’t watch modern TV because she didn’t like the amount of sex and swearing in it. “Everything, every channel, it’s either some sex scene or a killing of some kind,” she said. “And where’s the humour gone? You can’t really get a good laugh.

“I do like people like Michael McIntyre, but some of them just spend the whole time swearing.” Born in Streatham, London, in 1925, Whitfield started her career in radio before getting her big break in 1953 when she replaced Joy Nichols on the Muir and Norden radio comedy, Take It From Here.

Her first starring TV role came in the BBC sitcom Beggar My Neighbour in 1966. She went on to form her first working relationship with Terry Scott in Scott On ... before the pair teamed up again for Terry & June, which went on to attract audiences of 15 million during its eight-year run.

Whitfield described herself as living “in the suburban corner, in real life and in the parts I’ve played. Very English, and nothing wrong with that”.

Her big screen appearances included four Carry On films, and, in 1996, the part of Aunt Drusilla in a film adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure

In 1992, she won a new generation of fans with her portrayal of Edina’s unworldly mother in the internationally successful Absolutely Fabulous. Originally scheduled to appear in just one episode, she went on to become one of the show’s most popular characters.

Whitfield continued acting well into her 80s, with appearances in Midsomer Murders and the Last of the Summer Wine before joining David Tennant in his last trip in the Tardis as Doctor Who in 2009.