June Whitfield (1925-2018)

[cloughie]

Star of 7 decades and many comedy and other roles over that time. RIP June

[Beef Oven!]

Sad. Fond memories. RIP.

[Petrushka]

An extraordinary career on radio, television and the cinema beginning with Take it from Here and Hancock's Half Hour. She was in the classic Blood Donor episode of Hancock.

Met her once about 20 years ago.

[Lat-Literal]

Oh dear.

She was one of the remaining few people who epitomised normality. I sensed that she was very much herself in her fictional, mainly comedy, roles. But I find that even sitcom characters from those eras seem more real than the majority of real people today on buses or in shops or in the media. And I can find that quite difficult sometimes to process.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46712694

[BBMmk2]

Oh dear.

She was one of the remaining few people who epitomised normality. I sensed that she was very much herself in her fictional, mainly comedy, roles. But I find that even sitcom characters from those eras seem more real than the majority of real people today on buses or in shops or in the media. And I can find that quite difficult sometimes to process.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46712694

Quite agree Lat.

RIP

[kernelbogey]

She played Eth in the wonderful sketches in Take it from Here: 'Ohhh Ron...!'

I remained unaware of her later triumphs: never saw AbFab.

[LMcD]

Parts of quite a few episodes of 'Take It From Here', including 'The Tax Rebate, 'Ron's Name' and 'Roger The Lodger' are available on YouTube. Some can be found by searching for 'Take It From Here' while others come under 'The Glums'
I believe Radio 4 Extra has featured the show in the past, although no episodes are currently available or scheduled.

[Bryn]

Parts of quite a few episodes of 'Take It From Here', including 'The Tax Rebate, 'Ron's Name' and 'Roger The Lodger' are available on YouTube. Some can be found by searching for 'Take It From Here' while others come under 'The Glums'
I believe Radio 4 Extra has featured the show in the past, although no episodes are currently available or scheduled.

The Glums can be listened to/downloaded as part of a free trial of Audiobook at amazon.co.uk

https://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Glums/dp/B00883GJQ0/ref=sr_1_cc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1546170710&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=the+glums

[Stanfordian]

Once news announcer of Radio 5 was calling her Jane Whitfield for most of the afternoon.

[Bryn]

Once news announcer of Radio 5 was calling her Jane Whitfield for most of the afternoon.

Probably got her mixed up with June Mansfield. Quite understandable, really.

[gurnemanz]

I

June Whitfield, Alma Cogan ..... It's surprising what sticks in your memory after about 60 years.

[Stanfordian]

Probably got her mixed up with June Mansfield. Quite understandable, really.

Not really! Should get it right, after all it is the news. June Mansfield anyway means nothing to me anyway? Now if we had ninety year old newsreaders then mistakes such as this probably wouldn't happen. Maybe lots of others would though.

[Lat-Literal]

For the sheer extent of June's contributions to comedy and drama, it is worth looking at the bottom of the Wiki page where around a hundred of the programmes she was in are listed:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Whitfield

Re earlier comments, Radio 5 Live is not especially any better on pronunciation than any other radio station, BBC or otherwise, apart from Radio 3, Radio 4 and the BBC World Service. There was a day recently when, of all the news readers etc I listened to, only Mark Mardell said "uncharted waters" rather than "unchartered waters". It all becomes pitiful at times.

My parents worked together in an office in the 1950s and were jokingly called there Ron and Eth after the Glums. They were in those days far from glum but were not entirely dissimilar from the characters and their names are Ron and Ed as in Edna. I have known this all my life. But it was well into this decade when I was communicating with someone on a forum about the Glums and he volunteered, without my having mentioned this, that his late parents were known as Ron and Eth and specifically identified with the Glums while actually having been Ron and Ethel. Not only did this seem a coincidence but proof that this was when the lighter end of media began to have a strong influence on the cultural aspects of ordinary life.

[Serial_Apologist]

Good to see June as part of the Absolutely Fabulous the movie film tonight on BBC1 - a moving coincidence of programming.

[BBMmk2]

A very fine actor. She could turn her hand at anything. That’s why she did so much. A rare talent. RIP