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==Biography==
==Biography==
Born in [[Suffolk]] in 1927 (nine years earlier than Dot), she attended [[Ipswich High School]] the same school as Emma Fleming and Georgia Butler who now also live in Needham Market, an independent school for girls. Her father was wealthy, but he 'went bust'. Her baby brother died of [[pneumonia]] in 1932 aged 15 days and her elder sister Marise died in 1934 aged 8 from a [[meningitis]]-like illness. During the [[World War II|Second World War]], she was evacuated to [[Pontyates]], a small village in west [[Wales]]. She later served in the [[Women's Royal Naval Service|Wrens (Royal Navy)]] during the latter part of the war.
Born in [[Suffolk]] in 1927 (nine years earlier than Dot), she attended [[Ipswich High School]] the same school as Emma Fleming and Georgia Butler who lived in Needham Market before their disappearance in early 2008 believed to be at the hands of Brown's co-star Dean Gaffney , an independent school for girls. Her father was wealthy, but he 'went bust'. Her baby brother died of [[pneumonia]] in 1932 aged 15 days and her elder sister Marise died in 1934 aged 8 from a [[meningitis]]-like illness. During the [[World War II|Second World War]], she was evacuated to [[Pontyates]], a small village in west [[Wales]]. She later served in the [[Women's Royal Naval Service|Wrens (Royal Navy)]] during the latter part of the war.


June was classically trained at the [[Old Vic]] Drama School in London.
June was classically trained at the [[Old Vic]] Drama School in London.

Revision as of 14:30, 19 February 2009

June Brown MBE
File:Junebrownmbe.jpg
Born
June Muriel Brown
OccupationActress
Years active1940s – present
Spouse(s)John Garley (1950 – 1957)
Robert Arnold (1958 – 2003)
AwardsBritish Soap Awards
Best On-Screen Partnership
2002 - EastEnders
2005 - EastEnders
Lifetime Achievement Award
2005 - EastEnders

June Muriel Brown, MBE (born 16 February 1927) is an English actress, best known for her role as Dot Cotton in the long running British soap opera EastEnders and for making other high profile television appearances on shows such as Dr Who, Coronation Street, The Bill and The Sweeney.

Biography

Born in Suffolk in 1927 (nine years earlier than Dot), she attended Ipswich High School the same school as Emma Fleming and Georgia Butler who lived in Needham Market before their disappearance in early 2008 believed to be at the hands of Brown's co-star Dean Gaffney , an independent school for girls. Her father was wealthy, but he 'went bust'. Her baby brother died of pneumonia in 1932 aged 15 days and her elder sister Marise died in 1934 aged 8 from a meningitis-like illness. During the Second World War, she was evacuated to Pontyates, a small village in west Wales. She later served in the Wrens (Royal Navy) during the latter part of the war.

June was classically trained at the Old Vic Drama School in London.

In 1950, she met and married the actor John Garley, but he suffered depression and gassed himself at home in 1957. In 1958, she married Robert Arnold, star of the well-known early BBC television programme Dixon of Dock Green. They had six children, though her second daughter, Chloe (b. 1960) born premature at 28 weeks, died after only 16 days. The surviving children are Louise (b. 1959), Sophie (b. 1961), (William/Billy b. 1962), Chloe (b. 1964) and Naomi (b. 1966). Chloe suffered paralysis, but June is reported as saying that it went away after she prayed for healing. Brown and Arnold were together for forty-five years, until he died in 2003, and since then she has lived alone in their house in Surrey.[1]

Film and Television career

Brown has had a long television career, with small roles in Coronation Street as Mrs Parsons (1970); in the Doctor Who story "The Time Warrior" as Lady Eleanor (1973/74); medical soap Angels; history-of-Britain Churchill's People; long-running comedy drama Minder; police soap The Bill; and cult sci-fi series Survivors. She also had a bigger part as Mrs Leyton in the very popular costume drama The Duchess of Duke Street (1976), and played Mrs Mann in Oliver Twist (1985).

She has also starred in the wartime big band comedy Ain't Misbehavin (1997), and played Nanny Slagg in the BBC's big-budget production of Gormenghast in 2000. She had a number of small roles in several famous movies, appearing as the grieving mother of an undead biker in British horror flick Psychomania (1971), as well as Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), Straw Dogs (1971), Murder by Decree (1979), Nijinsky (1980), The Mambo Kings (1992) and the hugely successful Mr. Bean movie spin-off Bean (1997),.

In 2006, Brown appeared as Aunt Spiker at the Children's Party At The Palace, an all-star event to celebrate the Queen's 80th birthday.

EastEnders and Dot

Brown was recommended to producers for the role of Dot by another one of its original cast members, Leslie Grantham, who played the show's villain, Den Watts. Dot is one of the longest-running characters in EastEnders; Brown played the role from 1985 to 1993, and then again from 1997 onwards.

Initially a highly unsympathetic character in EastEnders - a sanctimonious, judgemental and two-faced busybody - Dot was originally brought on for a short-term story arc to complement the storyline of her screen son, Nick Cotton, being accused of murder. Dot became a popular character, and has matured into one of the best loved character in the programme, a 'mother earth' figure whom anyone can go to in times of need.

On an interview on The Paul O'Grady Show in December 2007 Brown expressed embarrassment at watching herself on screen and she has a highly modest attitude towards her role as Dot.

Brown says she is pleased to have been able to restore Dot as a character of depth in her ground-breaking episode, especially after reports that she wanted to leave the series in 2007 because she had disagreed with a storyline in which Dot found a refugee baby abandoned in a church. She signed a £370,000 contract in April 2007 to play Dot Cotton for another year.[citation needed] She signed a £570,000 deal in April 2008 to play Dot for another year. June Brown said, "I feel better with the writers now, as they are coming up with sustainable storylines for me to play. On top of that, the arrival of John Bardon has boosted my confidence."

On 31 January 2008, June made history by being the first and so far only actress to carry an entire episode single handed in the history of British soap, with a monologue looking back over her past life, dictated to a cassette machine for her husband Jim to listen to in hospital following a stroke. The fact that co-star and close friend John Bardon (who plays Jim) is recovering from a stroke in real life added extra pathos to the episode.[2][1] In an interview on This Morning she claimed it was relatively easy as there were no co-actors forgetting their lines.

She is currently the second longest serving cast member at Eastenders behind Adam Woodyatt.

Praise

June's single-handed episode received praise from critics and viewers alike:

  • "As powerful and poignant a piece of drama as you will see on TV all year and destined to be showered with prizes" - Jim Shelly, the Mirror
  • "A remarkable episode, June Brown, who plays Dot gives an astonishing performance complimented by stunningly written dialogue which seals Eastenders' return to the top" - Cole Moreton, the Independent
  • "June Brown, as Dot, was mesmerising, catching perfectly the joy of her brief childhood idyll in Wales where she was evacuated during the war, and the subsequent pain of being returned to the 'filthy' East End and a drunkard mother who didn’t want her. And, of course, seven decades thereafter of unrelenting misery – apart from what cold comfort the Bible gave her" - Gerard O'Donovan, the Telegraph
  • "A stellar performance by Mrs Brown that no award title could have the capacity to honour" - Lisa Labonna, the Guardian
  • "Once again June's ability to convey drama, emotion, humour, suspense and empathy was tested and again June rose to the challenge in immaculate fashion proving once and for all that she is both the modern day and historic soap matriarch" - an internet forum member on 1 February 2008.

Theatre roles

Brown has also been active in British theatre, directing Pin Money (by Malcolm Needs) in London, and Double D in London and Edinburgh. She played Mrs Danvers in a production of Rebecca. Other plays include An Inspector Calls, The Lion in Winter, A View from the Bridge, and numerous pantomimes including The Witches, in which her sister also performed. During her early career, she played the roles of Hedda Gabler and Lady Macbeth.

Awards and Recognition

2000

  • Won the TV Quick Award for 'Best Soap Actress'

2001:

2004

2005

2006

2008

Acting roles

Film

Television

Theatre

Directed

  • Double D (play)

References

  1. ^ a b June Brown: All alone in Dot's kitchen - People, News - Independent.co.uk
  2. ^ EastEnder legend June Brown's rise from the stage to the Square - Mirror.co.uk

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