Today, British comedy legend June Whitfield celebrates 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 past month I have been 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. I have also posted companion blogs on each of the roles mentioned in the poll, sharing my favourite memories from June's illustrious career. I hope you have enjoyed them.
So, to get to the results of my poll...
Surprisingly for a Carry On blog, neither of June's Carry On roles came out on top. The winner, with 23% of the vote was Mother from Absolutely Fabulous!
Coming a close second with 21% of the vote was June's iconic role as Augusta Prodworthy in Carry On Girls. In third place with 18% came June's most famous part - as June Medford in Terry and June.
The other five characters to feature in my poll came in as follows:
Evelyn Blunt in Carry On Abroad - 15%
Eth Glum in Take It From Here - 4%
and with 1% each - Rose Garvey in Beggar My Neighbour / Sister Ruth in EastEnders.
So what do you think of the outcome? Are you happy with the results?
Thanks again to everyone who took the time to vote!
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan
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