June Whitfield

To those of us who have grown up with the TV career of the inimitable Miss June Whitfield she has always been old, or perhaps mature is a better word. What I am trying to get at is that she has never seemed to be young and flighty. These days she is justly lionised as the naïve mother of monstrous Edina Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous and fondly remembered as June of Terry and June fame. What many do not realise is that she has a huge back catalogue of appearances in theatre, film and TV stretching back to the early 50's. In fact she was a leading participant in what was to become light entertainment on TV and has appeared with all the great comedians from Wilfred Pickles to Julian Clary with Tony Hancock, Tommy Cooper and Frankie Howard along the way. Equally at home in both sitcoms and sketch shows she is truly a comedian's moll, June Whitfield has now at last, in her 60's, had her genius recognised in its own right.
Born in November 1925, June Whitfield looks much younger than her 75 years but seems to have been entertaining us for far longer. Her mother, a frustrated actress who poured all her yearnings into amateur productions, sorely tested the patience of her put upon husband. But this atmosphere, far from scarring the young June, merely highlighted how much her parents loved her. As testament to their good parenting skills June and husband Tim have recently celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary.
Starting out taking acting lessons from a Miss Massey and her 'companion' on Streatham Common June entered RADA in 1942 right in the middle of World War 2. She learnt her trade and made a modest living doing all sorts of parts on the stage, everything from light comedy to musicals.
In the late 60's however, June Whitfield met the man who was to have as profound an influence on her life as her husband of 10 years, Terry Scott. June and Terry first appeared together on a show called Scott On ….. So successful was their on screen partnership that they soon appeared in Happy Ever After and a string of appearances led to a TV partnership which lasted 20 years.
Nowadays June is experiencing a resurgence of popularity as yet another generation discover the comic talents of one of Britain's funniest and most talented actresses. Slipping seamlessly into any comic genre you care to name, June Whitfield dominates the airwaves of both TV and radio nearly 50 years after her debut. Her gift for mimicry means she is in constant demand for radio and voiceovers. What more can you say except to confirm that she is Absolutely Fabulous.

'And June Whitfield' by June Whitfield is published by Bantam Books
First published on Gay UK Net
(c) Paul Towers 14/11/2000