In just over a month, British comedy legend June Whitfield will celebrate her 90th birthday. It's quite extraordinary to contemplate. On the one hand, June has been so visible to so many generations for decades now that it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that's she's lived such a long life, yet on the other her continued work in the profession and zest for life belie the fact that she's nearly 90.
June first rose to fame as the voice of Ethel Glum in that marvellous radio show, Take It From Here in the 1950s. With a career dating back to the Second World War while she was at drama school, June has pretty much seen it all, done it all and worked with everyone. Terry Scott, Sid James, Tommy Cooper, Stanley Baxter, Frankie Howerd, Arthur Askey, Dick Emery, Morecombe and Wise...the list is endless.
While her list of contacts in the profession is astounding, we must not forget just how talented June is in her own right. Given that she was touring with Wilfred Pickles over sixty years ago, it's fantastic to think she is still working hard in 2015 with a recent appearance in EastEnders, Cider with Rosie and the upcoming Absolutely Fabulous film to look forward to in 2016.
Over the course of the next month I will be asking you to vote for your favourite out of June's most well remembered performances. I've tried to limit them down to some of her most famous roles, however I'm bound to have missed some out, so do let me know! I've set up a poll which is now open - it will stay open until June's birthday on 11 November when the result will be revealed. In the meantime I will post blogs on each of the roles mentioned in the poll, sharing my favourite memories from June's illustrious career. I hope you enjoy them.
I have tried to feature roles that cover all the main stages of June's career so you'll find something there from the 1950s all the way up to the present day.
So all that remains to say is .... Carry On Voting!
You can also read why I think it should be Dame June Whitfield here
Clicking on the adverts helps to keep this blog going.
No comments:
Post a Comment