Dame Barbara Windsor spent her life capturing the nations heart and later became an ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Society. It is with great sadness that we learn she has passed away age 83.
Barbara's husband Scott Mitchell shared the very sad news, saying: "It is with deep sadness that I can confirm that my darling wife Barbara passed away at 8.35pm on Thursday 10 December at a London care home. Her passing was from Alzheimer’s/Dementia and Barbara eventually died peacefully and I spent the last seven days by her side."
Born Barbara Ann Deeks on the 6th August 1937 in Shoreditch, London, Barbara changed to her stage name of Barbara Windsor in 1953 after being inspired by the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. She trained at the Aida Foster School, making her stage debut at 13 and her West End debut in 1952 in the chorus of the musical Love From Judy. Her tutors at Aida Foster School tried to iron out her cockney accent but luckily, they weren’t able to succeed.
Her first film role was in The Belles of St Trinian’s in 1954. Producer Joan Littlewood spotted her at an audition and in 1960 gave her a role in Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’Be at London’s Garrick Theatre. After this success, Joan Littlewood cast her in the film Sparrows Can’t Sing (1963) where she achieved a BAFTA nomination for Best British Film Actress. This was seen by producer Peter Rodgers who offered her roles in the Carry On films.
Although she only appeared in nine films, we really got to know Barbara Windsor from the Carry On films. Her first being Carry on Spying in 1964 and her last film being Carry On Dick in 1974. She appeared with several of the Carry On cast members in the West End Revue Carry On London!. Whilst acting in the Carry On films Barbara Windsor continued to star on Broadway where she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 1965 for Oh, What a Lovely War!. After the Carry On films, she toured the UK, New Zealand and South Africa with her own show Carry On Barbara! in 1975.
Barbara Windsor accepted the offer to join the EastEnders cast in 1994 and took over the role of Peggy Mitchell. She received the Best Actress award at the 1999 British Soap Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2009 British Soap Awards.
In 2000, she got married for a third time to Scott Mitchell, a former actor and recruitment consultant. In late 2009 she announced that she was to leave her role in EastEnders so that she could spend more time with her husband and on 10th September 2010 her character left Albert Square. She returned for a couple of single episodes over the next few years until her last appearance on the show on 17th May 2016.
She did regular presenting work for BBC Radio 2 and in 2017 appeared in a cameo role as herself in the BBC film Babs. She also voiced the dormouse in Walt Disney’s Live Action adaption of Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass.
In the 2000 New Year Honours Barbara Windsor was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) and in the 2016 New Year Honours she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to charity and entertainment. Barbara became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation in 2012 and on her 82nd birthday in 2019 she became an ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Society.
In 2018, her husband Scott revealed that Barbara had been living with Alzheimer’s since 2014 and that her condition had been deteriorating. Despite that, she continued to campaign against dementia, even writing an open letter to the Prime Minister to try and urge the government to do more for dementia patients.
She continued to raise awareness of dementia care throughout the rest of her life and even after her Alzheimer’s diagnosis, it’s rare we ever saw Barbara without that huge smile on her face.
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