June Whitfield

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June Whitfield, 2013

Dame June Rosemary Whitfield , DBE (born November 11, 1925 in Streatham , London - † December 29, 2018 ) was a British actress , best known in Great Britain for her work on radio and sitcoms .

She celebrated her big breakthrough in the radio show Take It From Here in 1953. TV followed quickly, for example, she could be seen again and again at the side of actor Tony Hancock . In 1966 Whitfield starred in the sitcom Beggar My Neighbor . She was also part of the cast of the Carry-On film series .

From 1968 June Whitfield and Terry Scott were shooting partners for many years, for example as a couple in the British sitcom Happy Ever After and in Terry and June .

From 1992 to 2011 Whitfield was in Absolutely Fabulous as the mother of Edina Monsoon, called Grandma or Granny , with which she also became known to the German audience. In addition, she has starred in Last of the Summer Wine and The Green Green Grass in recent years .

Life

Childhood and youth

June Rosemary Whitfield was born in Streatham, London in 1925. Her father was the managing director of a company (Dictograph Telephones) previously founded by his father in Yorkshire . Both parents were committed amateur actors. She had her first stage experience at the age of three when her mother registered her at Robinson's Dance Studio. Whitfield attended Streatham Hill High School before being evacuated to Bognor Regis during World War II . There she attended St Michael's School before being evacuated to Penzance , Cornwall . She then moved with her parents to Huddersfield , where she learned shorthand and typewriter. She then continued her secretary training at Pitman's College , Brixton Hill. In 1944 Whitfield graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art with a diploma. In 1955 she married Timothy John Aitchison, who worked as a surveyor. They have a daughter, Suzy Aitchison, who is also an actress today.

Career start

Whitfield began her radio career in the 1940s with Wilfred Pickles. From 1947 she was heard on the program Twenty Questions as a so-called quick-witted panel member . In 1951 she had her first television role on The Passing Show and was also part of the cast of the London version of South Pacific .

In England she had her big breakthrough with the role of emigrated Joy Nichols on the radio comedy show Take It From Here , where she played Ron Glum's fiancée as Eth in the program The Glums . Over the next 15 years, Whitfield starred in many smaller television roles.

In 1959 she was seen in 41 degrees love , which was also her first appearance in the carry-on ... film series.

Career

In 1966, Whitfield was first seen in a leading role on a television show. She played Rose Garvey in Beggar My Neighbor . After the series ended, she starred in Scott On ... for the next six years in 1968 . At this point, the close collaboration with Terry Scott began. From 1971 she was also seen in Schütze this house and in the film of the same name , which was released in 1972. This was followed by other appearances in the carry-on ... film series, including in A Totally Crazy Vacation and Missing Election in English .

In 1974 she starred in the pilot of the sitcom Happy Ever After , again on the side of Terry Scott. She also played Scott's wife in the series for the next five years (until 1979). She then played Scott's wife again, this time in Terry and June . The only difference between Happy Ever After and Terry and June was the new surname ( Fletcher instead of Medford ) and a different set, and other actors had been used as family members. For the next eight years she was seen in this role, she also appeared in It Ain't Half Hot Mum and The Watcher . In the follow-up series Terry and Julian Whitfield had an episode role.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she made a few appearances in commercials, all of which were produced for Birds Eye by director Vernon Howe. She also synchronized the slogan ... it can make a dishonest woman of you! .

In 1971 June Whitfield and Frankie Howerd recorded a comedy version of the then successful song Je t'aime… moi non plus , in which they took part as Mavis .

In two editions of the British biographical series This Is Your Life it was the occasion for the broadcast. In April 1976 she was surprised by the British presenter Eamonn Andrews at her home in Wimbledon , and in March 1995 by British presenter Michael Aspel at the BBC Television Center .

In the 1980s, Whitfield was again increasingly heard in radio broadcasts. From 1984 she was z. B. can be heard in the format The News Huddlines , which was canceled in 2001. In the format, she often mimicked other people, including then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher . In the 1980s and 1990s she was also active on the stage and starred in new editions of An idealer Gatte and Babes in the Wood . In 1985 she also sang a new version of Irving Berlin's duet You're Just in Love in A Royal Night of One Hundred Stars with Ian Charleson . In 1982 she became a Freeman of the City of London , in 1985 she got the OBE .

Career since 1990

After Whitfield starred in an episode of the sketch show French & Saunders in 1988 , she was part of the cast of the British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous , written by Jennifer Saunders , since 1992 . This is how Whitfield became known to a large part of the German audience. In 2000 she was seen in the pilot film Mirrorball , in which the rest of the cast of Absolutely Fabulous, albeit in different roles, participated. From 1993 to 2001 she was heard as Miss Marple in 12 radio adaptations of Agatha Christie's books . She made appearances in films like Do it again, Columbus and Hearts in Riot in the 1990s. In the Friends episode Finally Wedding? - Part 2 , which took place in London, she was also seen as a housekeeper.

Since 2000, Whitfield has appeared in The Royal , Inspector Barnaby , Agatha Christie's Marple and New Tricks - Die Krimispezialisten, among others. From 2005 to 2010 she was part of the regular cast of Last of the Summer Wine , and on July 29, 2007, an episode of The South Bank Show was dedicated to her. In the same year she appeared in the English National Opera production On the Town . In November 2007 she also appeared in the only- fools- and-horses spin-off The Green Green Grass , as the mother of Marlene. In 2008 she appeared in the ITV production Harley Street , in 2009 a guest role in Kingdom and a new autobiography entitled At a Glance ... An Absolutely Fabulous Life , a collection of scrapbook photos from her life and career.

Whitfield appeared in the Doctor Who two-part film The End of Time , and in 2010 she had a brief role on the soap opera Coronation Street . In 2011 she was heard on the radio again, followed by further appearances as Grandma in Absolutely Fabulous in 2011 and 2012 .

In 2014 she appeared again in Inspector Barnaby .

Her last appearances were in the series EastEnders and the film Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie in 2016 .

Private life

June Whitfield was married to Tim Aitchison from 1955 until his death in 2001. Their daughter Suzy Aitchison is also a theater and television actress. Together with the British actor and author Christopher Douglas , she worked on her autobiography, which was published in 2000 with the title And June Whitfield .

Honors

June Whitfield received the British Comedy Award in 1994 for her life's work . In 1999 she was inducted into the Royal Television Society Hall of Fame. Whitfield received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1985 and in 1998 she became a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Stephen Dixon: June Whitfield obituary , The Guardian . December 29, 2018. 
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Whitfield, June - British Comedy Actor , The Museum of Broadcast Communications. 
  3. ↑ a b c June Whitfield: June Whitfield At a Glance - An Absolutely Fabulous Life . Weidenfeld & Nicolson, September 17, 2009, ISBN 0-297-85562-X .
  4. ^ A b Glorious June , Daily Express . July 28, 2007. 
  5. ↑ June Whitfield: ... and June Whitfield The autobiography . Corgi Books, 2000, ISBN 0-552-14767-2 .
  6. ↑ BBC Comedy Guide , BBC . 
  7. ↑ Mark Lewisohn: Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy , BBC Worldwide Ltd. 
  8. ↑ a b June Whitfield , Comedy Zone. 1999-2006. 
  9. ↑ Obituary: Vernon Howe, The Independent , December 5, 2003
  10. ^ Whitfield, June (1925-) , Screen Online. June 2003. 
  11. ↑ Lizzie Smith: David Tennant and Catherine Tate reunite to film Doctor Who Christmas special . In: Daily Mail , April 15, 2009. Retrieved April 17, 2009. 
  12. ↑ June to drop in on Weatherfield . Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  13. ^ "A Monstrous Vitality reviewed" May 30, 2010, BBC Radio 4 web site
  14. ↑ "We're still Ab Fab, 20 years on: Comedy cast reunited for three-part Christmas special" by Sara Nathan, at dailymail.co.uk
  15. ↑ and June Whitfield - The autobiography , Bantam Press, ISBN 978-0593045824
  16. ^ Dominic Maxwell, "Re-opening the grouse season," The Times , December 11, 2006
personal data
SURNAME Whitfield, June
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Whitfield, June Rosemary (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actress
DATE OF BIRTH November 11, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Streatham , London
DATE OF DEATH December 29, 2018