English radio, television and film actress Dame June Whitfield, best known for her roles on the BBC sitcom Terry and June and Jennifer Saunders’ Absolutely Fabulous, passed away peacefully on December 28, 2018. She was 93 years old.
Born on November 11, 1925, Dame June Rosemary Whitfield graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art with a diploma in 1944. A few short years later and Whitfield embarked on a career that would cause her to become a regular fixture on TV and radio for the next six decades. Whitfield’s early credits included a role on The Passing Show and a small part in Richard Rodgers stage musical South Pacific. Her catapult to fame came after she replaced Joy Nichols on the radio comedy Take It From Here alongside Jimmy Edwards and Dick Bentley. Following this big break, Whitfield went on to have supporting roles in Dixon of Dock Green, Arthur’s Treasured Volumes, The Arthur Askey Show, Faces of Jim, The Benny Hill Show, Steptoe and Son, and Frankie Howerd. She also appeared in four of the Carry On Nurse film series, of which there were 31 total.
Her first starring role came in 1966, portraying Rose Garvey for the sitcom Beggar My Neighbour. She later partnered with Terry Scott for the sketch show Scott On…, which ran for six years and built a lasting working relationship between the pair. Around this time, Whitfield also appeared in The Best Things In Life, The Goodies, The Dick Emery Show, Bless This House, The Pallisers, Carry On Abroad, and Carry On Girls. Reunited with Scott, Whitfield starred in the Comedy Playhouse sitcom Happy Ever After which ran for five series. They later appeared together on a new sitcom, Terry and June. Both sitcoms were very similar and cast Scott and Whitfield as a suburban married couple. During the eight-year run of Terry and June, Whitfield also appeared in It Ain’t Half Hot Mum and Minder.
Returning to radio comedy, Whitfield worked on the satire The News Huddlines along with stage appearances on An Ideal Husband and the pantomime Babes in the Wood. In 1982, Whitfield was made a Freeman of the City of London and was made an OBE shortly thereafter in 1985. During her later career, Whitfield was cast in the now cult favorite Absolutely Fabulous as the mother of main character Edina Monsoon. She was also voicing Miss Marple for 12 radio adaptations of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple books, while appearing in such films as Carry On Columbus, Jude, and Faeries. Additional credits included The Royal, Midsomer Murders, Agatha Christie’s Marple, New Tricks, Last of the Summer Wine, On the Town, The Green Green Grass, Harley Street, Doctor Who, Coronation Street, and A Monstrous Vitality.
Whitfield later reprised her role of Mother/Gran in two episodes of Absolutely Fabulous at Christmas/New Year 2011-2012, for an Olympic special on July 23, 2012, and for the 2016 film Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie. Throughout her career, Whitfield has been given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the British Comedy Awards, the inaugural Aardman Slapstick Comedy Legend Award, and was promoted to CBE before earning the title of Dame during the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to drama and entertainment.
