June Whitfield
Encyclopedia
June Rosemary Whitfield, CBE
(born 11 November 1925) is an English
actress, well known in the United Kingdom since the 1950s for roles in radio
and television comedy
series.
Her first big break was a lead role in the radio comedy
Take It From Here
, and television followed, including appearances with Tony Hancock
throughout his television career. In 1966, Whitfield played her first television sitcom role, in Beggar My Neighbour
, and this ran for two years. She also starred in several Carry On films
.
In 1968, June Whitfield and Terry Scott
began their long television partnership which peaked with roles as husband and wife in Happy Ever After (1974–78) and Terry and June
(1979–87). From 1992 to 2003, Whitfield appeared in Jennifer Saunders
's sitcom Absolutely Fabulous
and has played a regular character in Last of the Summer Wine
as well as a recurring character in The Green Green Grass
.
, London
in 1925. She made her first stage appearance aged three after her mother, Bertha, enrolled her at Robinson's Dance studio. Whitfield attended Streatham Hill High School
, before being evacuated in World War II
to Bognor Regis
, where she attended St Michael's School, and to Penzance
in Cornwall
. She then moved with her parents to Huddersfield
where she learnt shorthand and typing. She then continued to study secretarial skills at Pitman's
College, Brixton Hill
. In 1944, Whitfield graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
with a diploma. In 1955, June Whitfield married Timothy John Aitchison; they had a daughter, Suzy
, who became an actress.
. In 1951, she had her first credited television role in The Passing Show, and she joined the London cast of South Pacific
.
Her big break came in 1953 when she replaced the emigrating Joy Nichols
on the hit Muir
and Norden
radio
comedy Take It From Here
, co-starring Jimmy Edwards
and Dick Bentley
. In the portion of the show known as "The Glums" she played Eth, fiancee of the dim Ron Glum (played by Bentley). During the next 15 years Whitfield had many small roles on television, including appearances in various Tony Hancock
series, 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. Her best remembered work with Hancock is as the nurse in the opening scene of "The Blood Donor
" (Hancock
1961). In 1959, Whitfield appeared in Carry On Nurse
, the first of her four appearances in the Carry On film series.
playing Rose Garvey. The year after Beggar My Neighbour finished in 1968, Whitfield then appeared on Scott On... for six years until 1974. This started a working relationship with Terry Scott that would last until 1987. During Scott On. .. she had also appeared in The Best Things In Life, The Goodies
, The Dick Emery Show
, Bless This House and The Pallisers
. In 1972, she appeared in the Bless This House
film, with Terry Scott as her husband, and Carry On Abroad
, followed by an appearance in 1973 in Carry On Girls
.
In 1974, Whitfield starred in a Comedy Playhouse
sitcom
pilot
called Happy Ever After alongside Terry Scott. Later that year a first series of this was made, and it continued for five series until 1979. That year they appeared together in the first series of Terry and June
. Happy Ever After and Terry and June were very similar programmes, with only a change of surname, from Fletcher to Medford, and a new house and family. Both sitcoms had Scott and Whitfield as a suburban middle-class married couple. Terry and June ran for 65 episodes until 1987. Five years later in 1992, Julian Clary
created Terry and Julian
, a Channel 4
sitcom which spoofed the title of Terry and June, and Whitfield made an appearance in one episode. During the eight-year run of Terry and June, Whitfield also appeared in It Ain't Half Hot Mum
and Minder
.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Whitfield also appeared in a series of television advertisements, created for Birds Eye
by advertising art director Vernon Howe, featuring the concluding voice-over line: ".. it can make a dishonest woman of you!".
During the 1980s, June Whitfield went back to radio. From 1984, she appeared with Roy Hudd
on the satire
programme The News Huddlines
, which finished in 2001. On The News Huddlines, she often impersonated people and was known for her impersonation of the then Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher
. During the 1980s and 1990s, June Whitfield made several stage appearances, including in a revival of An Ideal Husband
and the pantomime Babes in the Wood
. In 1985 she sang a duet with Ian Charleson
of the Irving Berlin
song "You're Just in Love
" in A Royal Night of One Hundred Stars. In 1982, Whitfield was made a Freeman of the City of London
and was made an OBE
in 1985.
in 1988, from 1992 June Whitfield played Mother/Gran in Jennifer Saunders
' sitcom Absolutely Fabulous
, a role she continued until 2003. In 2000, she starred with the rest of the Absolutely Fabulous cast in the pilot Mirrorball
. From 1993 to 2001, June Whitfield played Miss Marple
in 12 radio adaptations of Agatha Christie's
Miss Marple books. Since 1990, she has appeared in films such as Carry On Columbus
, Jude
and Faeries
, as the voice of Mrs. Combs. In 1998, Whitfield played the housekeeper in the London-set episode of Friends
"The One with Ross's Wedding, Part Two" and voiced a character in an episode of the animated comedy series Rex the Runt
.
In 1994, June Whitfield was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the British Comedy Awards
, and, in 1998, she was upgraded to a CBE. In 2000, her autobiography And June Whitfield appeared, written with the help of Christopher Douglas
. Whitfield's husband Tim Aitchison died in 2001. Since 2000, Whitfield has appeared in The Royal
, Midsomer Murders
, Marple
, New Tricks and Last of the Summer Wine
, which she joined in 2005. Whitfield had an episode of The South Bank Show
devoted to her on 29 July 2007 and, in the same year, appeared in the ENO's
production of On the Town in London's West End
. In November 2007, she appeared in the Only Fools and Horses
spin-off The Green Green Grass
as the mother of Marlene. In 2008, Whitfield appeared in an episode of ITV medical drama, Harley Street
. In 2009, she made a guest appearance in Kingdom
and published an updated autobiography, At a Glance ... An Absolutely Fabulous Life, a collection of scrapbook pictures from her life and career.
Whitfield appeared in the Doctor Who
two part episode, "The End of Time
", that aired over the Christmas/New Year period of 2009–10. On 29 December 2009, she was the subject of an entire evening's tribute programming on BBC Two
.
In 2010, Whitfield was signed for a short appearance on soap opera
Coronation Street
. Her character, May, appeared at the funeral of Blanche Hunt
. She explained to Blanche's daughter, Deirdre
, how her mother died. In 2011 she played Margaret Rutherford
in the BBC Radio 4 play A Monstrous Vitality, Andy Merriman's radio adaptation of his biography of Rutherford, A Dreadnought with Good Manners. She will reprise her role of Mother/Gran in a three-part Christmas special of Absolutely Fabulous
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 11 November 1925) is an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
actress, well known in the United Kingdom since the 1950s for roles in radio
Radio comedy
Radio comedy, or comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve sitcom elements, sketches and various types of comedy found on other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic elements, as these can be conveyed on a small budget with just a few sound effects or some...
and television comedy
Television comedy
Television comedy had a presence from the earliest days of broadcasting. Among the earliest BBC television programmes in the 1930s was Starlight, which offered a series of guests from the music hall era — singers and comedians amongst them...
series.
Her first big break was a lead role in the radio comedy
Radio comedy
Radio comedy, or comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve sitcom elements, sketches and various types of comedy found on other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic elements, as these can be conveyed on a small budget with just a few sound effects or some...
Take It From Here
Take It From Here
Take It From Here was a British radio comedy programme broadcast by the BBC between 1948 and 1960. It was written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden, and starred Jimmy Edwards, Dick Bentley and Joy Nichols...
, and television followed, including appearances with Tony Hancock
Tony Hancock
Anthony John "Tony" Hancock was an English actor and comedian.-Early life and career:Hancock was born in Southam Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, England, but from the age of three was brought up in Bournemouth, where his father, John Hancock, who ran the Railway Hotel in...
throughout his television career. In 1966, Whitfield played her first television sitcom role, in Beggar My Neighbour
Beggar My Neighbour (TV series)
Beggar My Neighbour was a black-and-white British sitcom starring Reg Varney, Peter Jones, June Whitfield, Pat Coombs and Desmond Walter-Ellis...
, and this ran for two years. She also starred in several Carry On films
Carry On films
The Carry On films are a series of low-budget British comedy films, directed by Gerald Thomas and produced by Peter Rogers. They are an energetic mix of parody, farce, slapstick and double entendres....
.
In 1968, June Whitfield and Terry Scott
Terry Scott
Owen John "Terry" Scott was an English actor and comedian who appeared in seven Carry On films. He also appeared in BBC1's popular domestic sitcom Terry and June with June Whitfield...
began their long television partnership which peaked with roles as husband and wife in Happy Ever After (1974–78) and Terry and June
Terry and June
Terry and June is a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC1 from 1979 to 1987. The programme is largely a continuation of Happy Ever After, and stars Terry Scott and June Whitfield as a middle-class suburban couple, Terry and June Medford...
(1979–87). From 1992 to 2003, Whitfield appeared in Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Jane Saunders is an English comedienne, screenwriter, singer and actress. She has won two BAFTAs, an International Emmy Award, a British Comedy Award, a Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Award, two Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards, and a Peoples Choice Award.She first came into...
's sitcom Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...
and has played a regular character in Last of the Summer Wine
Last of the Summer Wine
Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom written by Roy Clarke that was broadcast on BBC One. Last of the Summer Wine premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973 and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. From 1983 to 2010, Alan J. W. Bell produced and...
as well as a recurring character in The Green Green Grass
The Green Green Grass
The Green Green Grass is a British sitcom, created and initially written by John Sullivan, produced by Shazam Productions for the BBC. It is a spin-off of the long running sitcom Only Fools and Horses and stars John Challis, Sue Holderness and Jack Doolan...
.
Early life
June Rosemary Whitfield was born in StreathamStreatham
Streatham is a district in Surrey, England, located in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1925. She made her first stage appearance aged three after her mother, Bertha, enrolled her at Robinson's Dance studio. Whitfield attended Streatham Hill High School
Streatham and Clapham High School
Streatham and Clapham High School is a successful independent day school for girls aged 3 to 18, situated in Streatham Hill, south London. The school was founded in 1887 by the Girls' Public Day School Company, which aimed to establish schools for girls of all classes by providing a high standard...
, before being evacuated in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to Bognor Regis
Bognor Regis
Bognor Regis is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, on the south coast of England. It is south-south-west of London, west of Brighton, and south-east of the city of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Littlehampton east-north-east and Selsey to the...
, where she attended St Michael's School, and to Penzance
Penzance
Penzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. She then moved with her parents to Huddersfield
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Leeds and Manchester. It lies north of London, and south of Bradford, the nearest city....
where she learnt shorthand and typing. She then continued to study secretarial skills at Pitman's
Pitman Shorthand
Pitman shorthand is a system of shorthand for the English language developed by Englishman Sir Isaac Pitman , who first presented it in 1837. Like most systems of shorthand, it is a phonetic system; the symbols do not represent letters, but rather sounds, and words are, for the most part, written...
College, Brixton Hill
Brixton Hill
Brixton Hill is the name given to a 1 km section of road between Brixton and Streatham Hill in south London, England. It slopes downhill towards central London.Brixton Hill and Streatham Hill form part of the traditional main London to Brighton road...
. In 1944, Whitfield graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
with a diploma. In 1955, June Whitfield married Timothy John Aitchison; they had a daughter, Suzy
Suzy Aitchison
Suzy Aitchison is a British television actress and the daughter of famed actress June Whitfield. She is most notable for her role as Susie on Jam & Jerusalem...
, who became an actress.
Early career
June started her career in radio in the 1940s with Wilfred PicklesWilfred Pickles
Wilfred Pickles OBE was an English actor and radio presenter.Born in Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Pickles was a proud Yorkshireman, and having been selected by the BBC as an announcer for its North Regional radio service, went on to be an occasional newsreader on the BBC Home Service...
. In 1951, she had her first credited television role in The Passing Show, and she joined the London cast of South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
.
Her big break came in 1953 when she replaced the emigrating Joy Nichols
Joy Nichols
Joy Eileen Nichols born in Sydney, Australia was a comedienne and actress who worked in Australia, Britain and the United States. She is best known as a star of Take It From Here on BBC Radio....
on the hit Muir
Frank Muir
Frank Herbert Muir was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wrote BBC radio's Take It From Here for over 10 years, and then appeared on BBC radio...
and Norden
Denis Norden
Denis Mostyn Norden CBE is a former English comedy writer and television presenter. After an early career working in cinemas, he began scriptwriting during World War II. From 1948 to 1959, he co-wrote the successful BBC Radio comedy programme Take It from Here with Frank Muir...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
comedy Take It From Here
Take It From Here
Take It From Here was a British radio comedy programme broadcast by the BBC between 1948 and 1960. It was written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden, and starred Jimmy Edwards, Dick Bentley and Joy Nichols...
, co-starring Jimmy Edwards
Jimmy Edwards
Jimmy Edwards DFC was an English comedic script writer and comedy actor on both radio and television, best known as Pa Glum in Take It From Here and as the headmaster 'Professor' James Edwards in Whack-O!-Biography:...
and Dick Bentley
Dick Bentley
Charles Walter "Dick" Bentley , born in Melbourne, Australia, was a comedian and actor. He starred with Jimmy Edwards in Take It From Here for BBC Radio....
. In the portion of the show known as "The Glums" she played Eth, fiancee of the dim Ron Glum (played by Bentley). During the next 15 years Whitfield had many small roles on television, including appearances in various Tony Hancock
Tony Hancock
Anthony John "Tony" Hancock was an English actor and comedian.-Early life and career:Hancock was born in Southam Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, England, but from the age of three was brought up in Bournemouth, where his father, John Hancock, who ran the Railway Hotel in...
series, Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series that ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department.-Overview:...
, Arthur's Treasured Volumes
Arthur's Treasured Volumes
Arthur's Treasured Volumes was a black-and-white British television series that aired on ITV in 1960. Starring Arthur Askey, it was written by Dave Freeman and was made for the ITV network by ATV....
, The Arthur Askey Show
The Arthur Askey Show
The Arthur Askey Show was a short-lived black-and-white British sitcom starring Arthur Askey that ran for six episodes in 1961. It was written by Dave Freeman...
, Faces of Jim
Faces of Jim
Faces of Jim was a black-and-white British comedy television series starring Jimmy Edwards, June Whitfield and Ronnie Barker, with each episode being an individual half-hour sitcom. The first series aired as The Seven Faces of Jim, the second as Six More Faces of Jim and the third series as More...
, The Benny Hill Show
The Benny Hill Show
The Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill.There were various incarnations of the show between 1951 and 1991, and it aired in over 140 countries. The show is generally sketch-based with heavy use of slapstick, mime, parody and double-entendre...
, Steptoe and Son
Steptoe and Son
Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about two rag and bone men living in Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974. Its theme tune, "Old...
and Frankie Howerd. Her best remembered work with Hancock is as the nurse in the opening scene of "The Blood Donor
The Blood Donor
"The Blood Donor" is an episode from comedy series Hancock, the final BBC series featuring British comedian Tony Hancock. First transmitted on 23 June 1961, the show was written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and was produced by Duncan Wood. Supporting Hancock were Patrick Cargill, Hugh Lloyd,...
" (Hancock
Hancock's Half Hour
Hancock's Half Hour was a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy, series of the 1950s and 60s written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The series starred Tony Hancock, with Sid James; the radio version also co-starred, at various times, Moira Lister, Andrée Melly, Hattie Jacques, Bill Kerr...
1961). In 1959, Whitfield appeared in Carry On Nurse
Carry On Nurse
Carry On Nurse is the second Carry On film, released in 1959. Of the regular team, it featured Joan Sims , Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey, with Hattie Jacques and Leslie Phillips. The film was written by Norman Hudis based on the play Ring For Catty by Patrick Cargill and Jack...
, the first of her four appearances in the Carry On film series.
Television fame
In 1966, Whitfield gained her first starring role, in the sitcom Beggar My NeighbourBeggar My Neighbour (TV series)
Beggar My Neighbour was a black-and-white British sitcom starring Reg Varney, Peter Jones, June Whitfield, Pat Coombs and Desmond Walter-Ellis...
playing Rose Garvey. The year after Beggar My Neighbour finished in 1968, Whitfield then appeared on Scott On... for six years until 1974. This started a working relationship with Terry Scott that would last until 1987. During Scott On. .. she had also appeared in The Best Things In Life, The Goodies
The Goodies (TV series)
The Goodies is a British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines surreal sketches and situation comedy, was broadcast by BBC 2 from 1970 until 1980 — and was then broadcast by the ITV company LWT for a year, between 1981 to 1982.The show was...
, The Dick Emery Show
Dick Emery
Richard Gilbert "Dick" Emery was an English comedian and actor. Beginning on radio in the 1950s, an eponymous television series ran from 1963 to 1981. He was the brother of Ann Emery.-Life and career:...
, Bless This House and The Pallisers
The Pallisers
The Pallisers is a 1974 BBC television adaptation of Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels.-Cast :*Anthony Ainley: Rev. Emilius*Terence Alexander: Lord George*Anthony Andrews: Lord Silverbridge*Sarah Badel: Lizzie Eustace...
. In 1972, she appeared in the Bless This House
Bless This House (film)
Bless This House is a 1972 British comedy film and a spin off from the television sitcom Bless This House.-Cast:The film starred many of the main stars from the TV series but some were missing and were replaced.*Sid James as Sid Abbot...
film, with Terry Scott as her husband, and Carry On Abroad
Carry On Abroad
Carry On Abroad is the twenty-fourth Carry On film, released in 1972. The film features series regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims, Bernard Bresslaw, Barbara Windsor, Kenneth Connor, Peter Butterworth and Hattie Jacques. It was the 23rd and final appearance for Charles Hawtrey. June...
, followed by an appearance in 1973 in Carry On Girls
Carry On Girls
Carry On Girls is the 25th Carry On film, released in Britain in 1973. The film is notable for being the first not to feature either Kenneth Williams or Charles Hawtrey. Williams was appearing in a West End play, My Fat Friend. Hawtrey had been dropped from the series the year before...
.
In 1974, Whitfield starred in a Comedy Playhouse
Comedy Playhouse
Comedy Playhouse was a long-running British anthology series of one-off unrelated sitcoms that aired for 120 episodes from 1961 to 1975. Many episodes later graduated to their own series, including Steptoe and Son, Till Death Us Do Part, All Gas and Gaiters, The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served?...
sitcom
British sitcom
A British sitcom tends, as it does in most other countries, to be based on a family, workplace or other institution, where the same group of contrasting characters is brought together in each episode. Unlike American sitcoms, where twenty or more episodes in a season is the norm, British sitcoms...
pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
called Happy Ever After alongside Terry Scott. Later that year a first series of this was made, and it continued for five series until 1979. That year they appeared together in the first series of Terry and June
Terry and June
Terry and June is a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC1 from 1979 to 1987. The programme is largely a continuation of Happy Ever After, and stars Terry Scott and June Whitfield as a middle-class suburban couple, Terry and June Medford...
. Happy Ever After and Terry and June were very similar programmes, with only a change of surname, from Fletcher to Medford, and a new house and family. Both sitcoms had Scott and Whitfield as a suburban middle-class married couple. Terry and June ran for 65 episodes until 1987. Five years later in 1992, Julian Clary
Julian Clary
Julian Peter McDonald Clary is an English comedian and novelist, known for his deliberately stereotypical camp style, with a heavy reliance on innuendo and double entendre.-Early life and education:...
created Terry and Julian
Terry and Julian
Terry and Julian is a British sitcom that aired on Channel 4 in 1992. Starring Julian Clary, it was written by Clary, Paul Merton and John Henderson...
, a Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
sitcom which spoofed the title of Terry and June, and Whitfield made an appearance in one episode. During the eight-year run of Terry and June, Whitfield also appeared in It Ain't Half Hot Mum
It Ain't Half Hot Mum
It Ain't Half Hot Mum was a British sitcom about the adventures of a Royal Artillery Concert Party, broadcast on the BBC between 1974 and 1981, and written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the creators of Dad's Army...
and Minder
Minder (TV series)
Minder is a British comedy-drama about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television and shown on ITV...
.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Whitfield also appeared in a series of television advertisements, created for Birds Eye
Birds Eye
__FORCETOC__Birds Eye is an international brand of frozen foods owned by Pinnacle Foods in North America and by private equity group Permira in Europe....
by advertising art director Vernon Howe, featuring the concluding voice-over line: ".. it can make a dishonest woman of you!".
During the 1980s, June Whitfield went back to radio. From 1984, she appeared with Roy Hudd
Roy Hudd
Roy Hudd, OBE is an English comedian, actor, radio host and author, and an authority on the history of music hall entertainment.- Early life :...
on the satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
programme The News Huddlines
The News Huddlines
The News Huddlines was a long-running BBC Radio 2 topical comedy sketch show starring Roy Hudd that ran for fifty one series from 1975 until 2001. Each episode lasted for half an hour and consisted of topical sketches, songs and one-liners.-Performers:...
, which finished in 2001. On The News Huddlines, she often impersonated people and was known for her impersonation of the then Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
. During the 1980s and 1990s, June Whitfield made several stage appearances, including in a revival of An Ideal Husband
An Ideal Husband
An Ideal Husband is an 1895 comedic stage play by Oscar Wilde which revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour...
and the pantomime Babes in the Wood
Babes in the Wood
Babes in the Wood is a traditional children's tale, as well as a popular pantomime subject. It has also been the name of some other unrelated works. The expression has passed into common language, referring to inexperienced innocents entering unawares into any potentially dangerous or hostile...
. In 1985 she sang a duet with Ian Charleson
Ian Charleson
Ian Charleson was a Scottish stage and film actor. He is best known internationally for his starring role as Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell, in the Oscar-winning 1981 film Chariots of Fire. He is also well known for his portrayal of Rev...
of the Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
song "You're Just in Love
You're Just in Love
"You're Just in Love" is a popular song by Irving Berlin. It was published in 1950 and was first performed by Ethel Merman and Russell Nype in Call Me Madam, a musical comedy that debuted at the Imperial Theatre in New York City on October 12 that year. The show ran for 644 performances. Ethel...
" in A Royal Night of One Hundred Stars. In 1982, Whitfield was made a Freeman of the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
and was made an OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1985.
Recent years
Having appeared in an episode of French & SaundersFrench & Saunders
French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act....
in 1988, from 1992 June Whitfield played Mother/Gran in Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Jane Saunders is an English comedienne, screenwriter, singer and actress. She has won two BAFTAs, an International Emmy Award, a British Comedy Award, a Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Award, two Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards, and a Peoples Choice Award.She first came into...
' sitcom Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...
, a role she continued until 2003. In 2000, she starred with the rest of the Absolutely Fabulous cast in the pilot Mirrorball
Mirrorball (TV pilot)
Mirrorball was a sitcom pilot in the United Kingdom directed by Adrian Edmondson and written by Jennifer Saunders. It originally aired on 22 December 2000....
. From 1993 to 2001, June Whitfield played Miss Marple
Miss Marple
Jane Marple, usually referred to as Miss Marple, is a fictional character appearing in twelve of Agatha Christie's crime novels and in twenty short stories. Miss Marple is an elderly spinster who lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur detective. She is one of the most famous...
in 12 radio adaptations of Agatha Christie's
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
Miss Marple books. Since 1990, she has appeared in films such as Carry On Columbus
Carry On Columbus
Carry On Columbus is the 31st and last film in the Carry On series, following 1978's Carry On Emmannuelle. The only main series regulars present are Jim Dale , Bernard Cribbins , Leslie Phillips , Jon Pertwee and June Whitfield...
, Jude
Jude (film)
Jude is a 1996 English film, based on the novel Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy and directed by Michael Winterbottom. The screenplay is written by Hossein Amini...
and Faeries
Faeries (film)
Faeries is a 1999 British animated film directed by Gary Hurst and featuring the voices of Kate Winslet, Dougray Scott and Jeremy Irons.-Main cast:*Kate Winslet – Brigid*Jeremy Irons – The Shapeshifter*Dougray Scott – The Faery Prince...
, as the voice of Mrs. Combs. In 1998, Whitfield played the housekeeper in the London-set episode of Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
"The One with Ross's Wedding, Part Two" and voiced a character in an episode of the animated comedy series Rex the Runt
Rex the Runt
Rex the Runt is an animated claymation television show produced by Aardman Animations for BBC Bristol in association with EVA Entertainment and Egmont Imagination. Its main characters are four plasticine dogs: Rex, Wendy, Bad Bob and Vince....
.
In 1994, June Whitfield was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the British Comedy Awards
British Comedy Awards
The British Comedy Awards is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year.-History:...
, and, in 1998, she was upgraded to a CBE. In 2000, her autobiography And June Whitfield appeared, written with the help of Christopher Douglas
Christopher Douglas (UK actor)
Christopher Douglas is a United Kingdom actor and writer.Douglas left school at 15 and spent two years in his early twenties researching the life of Douglas Jardine the England test cricketer. This research formed the basis of a biography of Jardine in 2002...
. Whitfield's husband Tim Aitchison died in 2001. Since 2000, Whitfield has appeared in The Royal
The Royal
The Royal is a British medical drama series produced by ITV. The show comprises one hour episodes which were normally first aired on ITV in the Sunday early evening slot....
, Midsomer Murders
Midsomer Murders
Midsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...
, Marple
Marple (TV series)
Marple is a British television series based on the Miss Marple and other murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie. It is also known as Agatha Christie's Marple. The title character was played by Geraldine McEwan from the first to third series, until her retirement from the role. She was replaced...
, New Tricks and Last of the Summer Wine
Last of the Summer Wine
Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom written by Roy Clarke that was broadcast on BBC One. Last of the Summer Wine premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973 and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. From 1983 to 2010, Alan J. W. Bell produced and...
, which she joined in 2005. Whitfield had an episode of The South Bank Show
The South Bank Show
The South Bank Show was a television arts magazine show, originally made by London Weekend Television , presented by Melvyn Bragg, broadcast on ITV and seen in over 60 countries worldwide — including Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States...
devoted to her on 29 July 2007 and, in the same year, appeared in the ENO's
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
production of On the Town in London's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
. In November 2007, she appeared in the Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...
spin-off The Green Green Grass
The Green Green Grass
The Green Green Grass is a British sitcom, created and initially written by John Sullivan, produced by Shazam Productions for the BBC. It is a spin-off of the long running sitcom Only Fools and Horses and stars John Challis, Sue Holderness and Jack Doolan...
as the mother of Marlene. In 2008, Whitfield appeared in an episode of ITV medical drama, Harley Street
Harley Street (TV series)
Harley Street is a British television medical drama shown on ITV in 2008.The series was made by Carnival Films and was set in Harley Street, London...
. In 2009, she made a guest appearance in Kingdom
Kingdom (TV series)
Kingdom is a British television series produced by Parallel Film and Television Productions for the ITV network. It was created by Simon Wheeler and stars Stephen Fry as Peter Kingdom, a Norfolk solicitor who is coping with family, colleagues, and the strange locals who come to him for legal...
and published an updated autobiography, At a Glance ... An Absolutely Fabulous Life, a collection of scrapbook pictures from her life and career.
Whitfield appeared in the Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
two part episode, "The End of Time
The End of Time
The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Our Understanding of the Universe, also sold with the alternate subtitle The Next Revolution in Physics, is a 1999 science book in which the author Julian Barbour argues that time exists merely as an illusion.-Auto-biography:The book begins by describing how...
", that aired over the Christmas/New Year period of 2009–10. On 29 December 2009, she was the subject of an entire evening's tribute programming on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
.
In 2010, Whitfield was signed for a short appearance on soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
. Her character, May, appeared at the funeral of Blanche Hunt
Blanche Hunt
Blanche Hunt is a fictional character from the ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She was originally played by Patricia Cutts; however, the actress committed suicide after appearing in just two episodes in 1974. Maggie Jones took over the role, playing Blanche in over 830 episodes between 1974 and...
. She explained to Blanche's daughter, Deirdre
Deirdre Barlow
Deirdre Anne Barlow is a long-standing fictional character in the UK television ITV Granada soap opera, Coronation Street...
, how her mother died. In 2011 she played Margaret Rutherford
Margaret Rutherford
Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford DBE was an English character actress, who first came to prominence following World War II in the film adaptations of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest...
in the BBC Radio 4 play A Monstrous Vitality, Andy Merriman's radio adaptation of his biography of Rutherford, A Dreadnought with Good Manners. She will reprise her role of Mother/Gran in a three-part Christmas special of Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...
.