'An incredible woman': Tributes flood in for June Brown, EastEnders' Dot Cotton actress, who has died aged 95
Stars from the show including Danny Dyer, who plays Mick Carter, and Gillian Taylforth, who plays Kathy Beale, are among those who have offered their sympathies.
Monday 4 April 2022 19:52, UK
Tributes have poured in for EastEnders' Dot Cotton actress, June Brown, who has died aged 95.
EastEnders stars, actors and fans are among those who have paid tribute to the soap icon, who died at her home in Surrey on Sunday.
Brown played chain-smoking hypochondriac Dot Cotton for 35 years and was one of Albert Square's most beloved characters.
Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian Beale on the soap said he is "lost for words".
"So many memories, so much fun. Just purely and simply an incredible woman who had the most incredible life and career, I was fortunate to have shared a small part of it", he added.
Fellow EastEnders star Danny Dyer, who plays Mick Carter, called her "an icon in its truest form", posting a picture of him holding Brown's hand on Instagram.
Gillian Taylforth, who plays Kathy Beale, added that she was "heartbroken" by the news of her death.
Away from the acting world, culture secretary Nadine Dorries, journalist Piers Morgan and the husband of late EastEnders star Dame Barbara Windsor, Scott Mitchell, also paid tribute.
Stephen Fry said he would always remember her "as a tireless and fearless LGBT ally".
An EastEnders spokesperson said: "We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved June Brown, OBE, MBE, sadly passed away last night.
"There are not enough words to describe how much June was loved and adored by everyone at EastEnders, her loving warmth, wit and great humour will never be forgotten.
"We send all our love and deepest sympathies to June's family and friends. A very bright light has gone out at EastEnders today but we shall all be raising a sweet sherry in June's memory.
"Rest in peace, our dearest June. You will never be forgotten”.
A statement from Brown's family said: "We are deeply saddened to announce our beloved mother, June, passed away very peacefully at her home in Surrey on Sunday evening, with her family by her side.
"We would kindly ask that our privacy is respected at this very difficult time."
Brown first stepped into Albert Square in 1985, shortly after the soap began, after being recommended to the show's producers by actor Leslie Grantham, who played Dirty Den.
Launderette worker Dot famously wed Jim Branning (played by John Bardon) in 2002, but it was her career-criminal son, Nick Cotton or 'Nasty Nick' (played by John Altman) who really ruled her heart.
The only soap actor to have single-handedly led an entire episode, she was nominated for a BAFTA for her performance in the 2008 half-an-hour special in which her character looked back on her life.
She also had many big storylines during her time in the soap, exploring complicated themes including euthanasia, cancer and homophobia.
Winning numerous soap awards during her career, including a lifetime achievement honour at the 2005 British Soap Awards, Brown played the role of Dot until her 93rd year.
Taking a break from the BBC show between 1993 and 1997, she officially left the cast in 2020. While her exit was low-key, a spokesperson for EastEnders at the time said the door had been left open for her return.
Prior to becoming a household name in EastEnders, Brown had a successful career as a jobbing actress, performing both on stage and screen.
The late actor Nigel Hawthorne once described her as "one of the most beautiful creatures I've seen on stage" after seeing her play the titular role in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler when she was in her 20s.
She had small roles in numerous TV shows during the 1970s, including Coronation Street, Doctor Who, Minder and The Bill, as well as costume dramas The Duchess Of Duke Street and Oliver Twist.
In the 1980s and 1990s she secured larger parts in comedies like Ain't Misbehavin'.
Like her EastEnders character, Brown was a devout Christian, and once said she had helped shape the role to make Dot's faith more closely resemble her own.
She was equally vocal about her political opinions, once telling The Guardian in a response to a question about her voting habits: "No, I wouldn't vote Labour, dear, if you paid me. I vote Conservative."
Despite her professional success, the actress's life was touched by tragedy at various points.
Born in Needham Market in Suffolk in 1927, Brown was of Irish, Scottish, Italian and Sephardic descent.
She was descended from the famous bare knuckle boxer Isaac Bitton on her maternal grandmother's side. The fighter reportedly once took part in a fight that lasted 74 rounds.
One of five children, her baby brother died at 15 days from pneumonia and her elder sister, Marise, died aged eight from a meningitis-like illness.
Educated in Ipswich at St John's Church of England school, she won a scholarship to Ipswich High School.
She went on to train at London's Old Vic Theatre School in Lambeth, south London, after serving in the Women's Royal Naval Service - known as the Wrens - at the end of the Second World War.
Brown would marry twice. First in 1950 aged 23 to fellow actor John Garley, who she met at drama school. He took his own life seven years after they married.
She wed for a second time in 1958 to actor Robert Arnold, who played PC Swain in the long-running police programme Dixon Of Dock Green.
Married for 45 years, they had six children together. Sadly, their second daughter, Chloe, was born prematurely and died after 16 days.
Arnold died in 2003 of Lewy body dementia, a progressive form of the brain disease.
In a 2017 interview on Desert Island Discs, Brown, who was then aged 90, said she thought retirement would kill her.
"I can be feeling like death warmed up when I come in (to work), and then I'm alive. It keeps me alive," she said.
"I think that's why a lot of people are very lonely and get ill when they're older, because I think loneliness and having no motivation, nothing to work towards - I think it kills you."
In December 2021 Brown was made an OBE in the New Year Honours, and she was previously made an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2008, both for services to drama and charity.