Editing June Whitfield (section)

==Career==
=== Early career ===
Whitfield began her career in the 1940s working with [[Wilfred Pickles]], and worked on stage in the [[West End theatre|West End]] and the regions.

In 1951, she had her first credited television role in ''[[The Passing Show]]'' and joined the London cast of the musical ''[[South Pacific (musical)|South Pacific]]''.

Her big break came in 1953 when she replaced [[Joy Nichols]] in the successful [[Frank Muir]] and [[Denis 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, fiancée of the dim Ron Glum (played by Bentley).<ref name="Museum"/> During the next fifteen years Whitfield had many supporting roles on television, including in ''[[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]]''. She played the nurse in the opening scene of "[[The Blood Donor]]" (''[[Hancock's Half Hour|Hancock]]'', 1961). Whitfield's daughter [[Suzy Aitchison]] would play the same role in the 2009 re-recording  with [[Paul Merton]] portraying Tony Hancock.

In 1959, she appeared in ''[[Carry On Nurse]]'', the first of her four appearances in the [[Carry On (franchise)|''Carry On'' film series]].<ref name="Museum" />

=== 1960s to 1980s ===
Whitfield gained her first starring role in the sitcom ''[[Beggar My Neighbour (TV series)|Beggar My Neighbour]]'' (1966),<ref name="Museum" /> playing Rose Garvey. The year after ''Beggar My Neighbour'' finished in 1968, she appeared on ''[[Scott On...]]'' for six years until 1974.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/s/scotton_1299002752.shtml |title=BBC Comedy Guide |publisher=BBC |year=2003 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060524015808/http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/s/scotton_1299002752.shtml |archive-date=24 May 2006}}</ref> This started a working relationship with [[Terry Scott]] that lasted until 1987. During ''Scott On...'' she also appeared in ''The Best Things in Life'', ''[[The Goodies (TV series)|The Goodies]]'', ''[[Dick Emery|The Dick Emery Show]]'', ''[[Bless This House (British TV series)|Bless This House]]'' and ''[[The Pallisers]]''. She appeared in the spin-off film of ''[[Bless This House (film)|Bless This House]]'' (1972), with Scott as her husband, and ''[[Carry On Abroad]]'' (also 1972), followed by an appearance in ''[[Carry On Girls]]'' (1973).<ref name="Museum" />

Whitfield starred alongside Scott in a ''[[Comedy Playhouse]]'' [[British sitcom|sitcom]] [[television pilot|pilot]] called ''[[Happy Ever After (British TV series)|Happy Ever After]]'' (1974). A few months later the first full series was broadcast, with a further four series until 1979. Later that year, they appeared together in the first series of ''[[Terry and June]]''. The two sitcoms were very similar, the only main differences being a change of surname (from Fletcher to Medford), and a different house and family.<ref>{{cite news|title=Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy|first=Mark|last=Lewisohn|publisher=BBC Worldwide Ltd|year=2003}}</ref> Both had Scott and Whitfield as a suburban [[middle-class]] married couple. ''Terry and June'' ran for [[List of Terry and June episodes|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''; Whitfield made an appearance in one episode.<ref name="ComedyZone">{{cite news|url=http://www.comedy-zone.net/standup/comedian/w/whitfield-june.htm |title=June Whitfield |publisher=Comedy Zone |date=1999–2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717042808/http://comedy-zone.net/standup/comedian/w/whitfield-june.htm |archive-date=17 July 2012 }}</ref> During the eight-year run of ''[[Terry and June]]'', Whitfield also appeared in ''[[It Ain't Half Hot Mum]]'' and ''[[Minder (TV series)|Minder]]''.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Whitfield appeared in a series of television advertisements, created for [[Birds Eye]] by advertising art director Vernon Howe, and featuring the concluding voice-over line: "it can make a dishonest woman of you!"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/vernon-howe-549038.html |title=Obituary: Vernon Howe |work=The Independent |date=5 December 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305072534/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/vernon-howe-549038.html |archive-date=5 March 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1971, Whitfield and [[Frankie Howerd]] recorded a novelty comic version of the song "[[Je t'aime... moi non plus|Je t'aime]]", previously recorded by [[Jane Birkin]] and [[Serge Gainsbourg]], in which she featured as "Mavis".

She was the subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' on two occasions: in April 1976, when she was surprised by [[Eamonn Andrews]] at her home in Wimbledon;{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} and in March 1995, when [[Michael Aspel]] surprised her at [[BBC Television Centre]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

During the 1980s, Whitfield returned to radio comedy. From 1984, she could be heard with [[Roy Hudd]] on the [[satire]] programme ''[[The News Huddlines]]'',<ref name="Museum"/> which finished in 2001. On it she often used impersonations and was known for her impression of the then [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Margaret Thatcher]].<ref name="Museum" /> During the 1980s and 1990s, she made several stage appearances, including in a revival of ''[[An Ideal Husband]]'' and the pantomime ''[[Babes in the Wood]]''.<ref name="Museum" /> 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''.

=== 1990s to 2010s ===
Having appeared in an episode of ''[[French and Saunders]]'' in 1988, Whitfield played [[Absolutely Fabulous#Other|Mother]] in [[Jennifer Saunders]]' sitcom ''[[Absolutely Fabulous]]'' from 1992 until 2012. In 2000, she featured with the rest of the ''Absolutely Fabulous'' cast in the pilot ''[[Mirrorball (TV pilot)|Mirrorball]]''. From 1993 to 2001, she played [[Miss Marple]] in 12 radio adaptations of [[Agatha Christie]]'s Miss Marple books.<ref name="ComedyZone" /> From 1990, she appeared in films including ''[[Carry On Columbus]]'' (1992), ''[[Jude (film)|Jude]]'' (1996) and ''[[Faeries (1999 film)|Faeries]]'' (1999, as the voice of Mrs Coombs). In 1998, Whitfield played the housekeeper in the London-set episode of ''[[Friends]]'' "[[The One with Ross's Wedding|The One with Ross's Wedding, Part Two]]"<ref name="Screenonline">{{cite news|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/839298/index.html|title=Whitfield, June (1925–)|publisher=Screen Online|date=June 2003}}</ref> and voiced a character in an episode of the animated comedy series ''[[Rex the Runt]]''.

Her autobiography ''And June Whitfield'', written with the help of [[Christopher Douglas (UK actor)|Christopher Douglas]], appeared in 2000.<ref name="maxwell">{{cite news | first=Dominic | last=Maxwell  | url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article665429.ece | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615200857/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article665429.ece | url-status=dead | archive-date=15 June 2011 | title=Re-opening the grouse season | newspaper=The Times | date=11 December 2006}}</ref> She appeared in ''[[The Royal]]'', followed by appearances in ''[[Midsomer Murders]]'', ''[[Agatha Christie's Marple]]'', ''[[New Tricks]]'' and ''[[Last of the Summer Wine]]'', which she joined in 2005. She had an episode of ''[[The South Bank Show]]'' devoted to her on 29 July 2007 and, in the same year, appeared in the [[English National Opera]]'s production of ''[[On the Town (musical)|On the Town]]'' in London's [[West End theatre|West End]]. In November 2007, she appeared in the ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]'' spin-off ''[[The Green Green Grass]]'' as the mother of [[List of Only Fools and Horses characters#Marlene|Marlene]],<ref>{{cite episode|title=Episode Dated 7 November 2007|series=The Paul O'Grady Show|series-link=The Paul O'Grady Show|network=[[Channel 4]]|station=[[Channel 4]]|airdate=7 November 2007}}</ref> and in 2008 she appeared in an episode of ITV medical drama ''[[Harley Street (TV series)|Harley Street]]''. In 2009, she made a guest appearance in ''[[Kingdom (British TV series)|Kingdom]]'' and published an updated autobiography, ''At a Glance ... An Absolutely Fabulous Life'', a collection of scrapbook pictures from her life and career.<ref name="fabulous" />

Whitfield appeared in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' two-part episode, "[[The End of Time (Doctor Who)|The End of Time]]", that aired over Christmas 2009{{Snd}}New Year 2010.<ref>{{cite web |title=BBC - Press Office - June Whitfield in Doctor Who: The End Of Time |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/12_december/23/doctor_who.shtml |website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> On 29 December 2009, she was the subject of an entire evening's tribute programming on [[BBC Two]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.radiotimes.com/ListingsServlet?event=10&channelId=105&programmeId=108416744&jspLocation=/jsp/prog_details.jsp |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912044801/http://www.radiotimes.com/ListingsServlet?event=10&channelId=105&programmeId=108416744&jspLocation=/jsp/prog_details.jsp |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 September 2012 |title=This Is Your Life: June Whitfield OBE – Tuesday 29 December – Programme Details – Radio Times |publisher=radiotimes.com |access-date=29 December 2009 }}</ref>

In 2010, Whitfield was signed for a short appearance on ITV [[soap opera]] ''[[Coronation Street]]''. Her character, May, appeared at the funeral of [[Blanche Hunt]] and explained to Blanche's daughter, [[Deirdre Barlow|Deirdre]], how her mother had died.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uk.tv.yahoo.com/05032010/19/june-drop-weatherfield.html |title=June to drop in on Weatherfield |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929194621/http://uk.tv.yahoo.com/05032010/19/june-drop-weatherfield.html |archive-date=29 September 2011 }}</ref> In 2011, she played [[Margaret Rutherford]] in the BBC Radio 4 play ''A Monstrous Vitality'', a radio adaption by Andy Merriman of his biography of Rutherford, ''A Dreadnought with Good Manners''.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011p607 "A Monstrous Vitality reviewed"] 30 May 2010, BBC Radio 4 web site</ref> She reprised her role of Mother in two episodes of ''[[Absolutely Fabulous]]'' at Christmas 2011{{Snd}}New Year 2012, and for an [[2012 Summer Olympics|Olympic]] special on 23 July 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/290811abfab |title=BBC One celebrates 20th anniversary of Absolutely Fabulous |date=29 August 2011 |website=bbc.co.uk |publisher=BBC Media Centre |access-date=30 December 2020}}</ref> In 2013, Whitfield became the inaugural recipient of the [[Aardman Animations|Aardman]] [[Slapstick Festival|Slapstick]] Comedy Legend Award,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.slapstick.org.uk/awards/comedy-legend-award/|title=Aardman Slapstick Comedy Legend Award – Slapstick {{!}} Bristol's Silent Comedy Festival.|newspaper=Slapstick {{!}} Bristol's Silent Comedy Festival.|access-date=21 February 2017}}</ref> a recognition of her lifetime's contribution to the world of comedy. In 2014, she made a second appearance in ''Midsomer Murders'', and appeared in ''[[Jonathan Creek]].'' From 2014 to 2016 she appeared in the sitcom ''[[Boomers (TV series)|Boomers]]'' as the mother of [[Stephanie Beacham]]'s character.  In 2015, she played Granny Wallon in a BBC One adaptation of [[Laurie Lee]]'s  novel ''[[Cider with Rosie]]''.

In May 2015, Whitfield made a guest appearance in the BBC soap ''[[EastEnders]]'' as a nun called [[Sister Ruth]]<ref name="EastEnders">{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/may/01/june-whitfield-joins-eastenders-for-a-night-do-soap-guest-stars-work | title=June Whitfield joins EastEnders for a night – do soap guest stars work? | work=[[The Guardian]] | date=1 May 2015 | access-date=2 May 2015 | author=Verdier, Hannah}}</ref> and returned to the show in January 2016 to complete a storyline.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-10-25/june-whitfield-returns-to-eastenders-as-sister-ruth---will-she-reveal-the-truth-about-kats-secret-son | title=June Whitfield returns to EastEnders as Sister Ruth – will she reveal the truth about Kat's secret son? | work=[[Radio Times]] | date=25 October 2015 | access-date=8 December 2015 | author=Brown, David}}</ref> In October 2015, it was confirmed that she would reprise her role of Mother in ''[[Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie]]'' which was released in July 2016.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://jezebel.com/the-absolutely-fabulous-movie-is-finally-filming-heres-1737319237 | title=The ''Absolutely Fabulous'' Movie Is Finally Filming: Here's Photographic Proof | work=[[Jezebel.com]] | date=19 October 2015 | access-date=8 December 2015 | author=Crosley Coker, Hillary}}</ref> She made a guest appearance as God in the [[Sky 1]] series ''[[You, Me and the Apocalypse]]'', which was broadcast in November 2015.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-11-25/god-is-a-woman-and-she-looks-very-much-like-june-whitfield-according-to-you-me-and-the-apocalypse | title=God is a woman and she looks very much like June Whitfield according to You, Me and the Apocalypse | work=[[Radio Times]] | date=25 November 2015 | access-date=8 December 2015 | author=Dowell, Ben}}</ref>