June Brown MBE
Born	June Muriel Brown 16 February 1927 (1927-02-16) (age 82) Needham Market, Suffolk, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1952–present
Spouse(s)	John Garley (1950–57) (Widowed) Robert Arnold (1958–2003) (Widowed)

June Muriel Brown, MBE (born 16 February 1927) is a British actress, best known for her role as the busy-body, chain-smoking gossip Dot Cotton (now Branning) in the long running British soap opera EastEnders and for making other high profile television appearances on shows such as Doctor Who, Coronation Street, Minder, The Bill and The Sweeney.

Contents 1 Early life and family 2 Film and Television career 2.1 EastEnders and Dot 2.2 Praise 3 Theatre roles 4 Awards and Recognition 5 Acting roles 5.1 Film 5.2 Television 5.3 Theatre 6 Directed 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Early life and family

June was born in Suffolk in 1927 (nine years earlier than Dot). She was the eldest of five children however her baby brother died of pneumonia in 1932 aged 15 days and her elder sister Marise died in 1934 aged eight from a meningitis-like illness. During the Second World War, she was evacuated to Pontyates, a small village in Wales. During the later years of the war she served in the Wrens (Royal Navy) and was classically-trained at the Old Vic Theatre School

At 17, 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/Bill (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.^{[citation needed]} Brown and Arnold were together for forty-five years, until he died in 2003 of Lewy Body Dementia. Since then she has lived alone in their house in Surrey.^[1]

She is a supporter of the Conservative Party.^[2]

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 June expressed embarrassment at watching herself on screen and says 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.^[1][3] In an interview on This Morning^{[episode needed]} she claimed it was relatively easy as there were no co-actors forgetting their lines. In 2009, Brown was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress.^[4] She is the first actress to be nominated in the category for a role in a soap opera since Jean Alexander's nomination for playing Hilda Ogden in Coronation Street in 1989. Brown's nomination came as a result of her "single-hander" episode of EastEnders, the director of which she praised.^[5]

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

[edit] 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 Shelley, 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

[edit] 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.

In May 2009 Brown announced she would take a break from EastEnders to play 'Jessie' in the West End production of Calendar Girls at the Noel Coward Theatre. Also in the play are former EastEnders stars Anita Dobson (Angie Watts), Jack Ryder (Jamie Mitchell) and Jill Halfpenny (Kate Mitchell). She will return to the show in 2010.

[edit] Awards and Recognition

2000

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

2001:

• Won 'Best Actress' at the Inside Soap Awards

2004

• Won 'Best Actress' at the Inside Soap Awards
• Won 'Best Onscreen Partnership' with John Bardon at the British Soap Awards

2005

• Won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the British Soap Awards
• Won 'Best Onscreen Partnership' along with John Bardon also at the British Soap Awards
• Won 'Best Couple' again with John Bardon at the Inside Soap Awards
• Nominated and shortlisted for the 'Most Popular Actress' title at the National Television Awards, lost out to Billie Piper

2006

• Nominated in the 'Best TV Personality' at the TRIC Awards, lost out to close friend Paul O'Grady

2008

• Appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to Drama and Charity.
• Nominated in the 'Outstanding Serial Drama' performance category at the National Television Awards

2009

• Nominated in the Best Actress category at the British Academy Television Awards
• On the 4.12.2009 June Brown was awarded an honorary degree from the University of East London

[edit] Acting roles

[edit] Film

• Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
• Straw Dogs (1971)
• Psychomania (1972)
• Murder by Decree (1979)
• Nijinsky (1980)
• The Mambo Kings (1992)
• Bean: The Movie (1997)

[edit] Television

• Angels (1974 episode)
• Churchill's People
• Coronation Street (1970)
• Doctor Who serial The Time Warrior (1973 - 1974), as Lady Eleanor of Wessex
• Sorry (1980) one-off BBC play
• Lace (1984) TV miniseries
• The Duchess of Duke Street (1976 - 1977)
• EastEnders (1985 - 1993, 1997 - present)
• Gormenghast
• Margery and Gladys (2003)
• Oliver Twist (1985)
• Survivors
• The Sweeney
• The Bill
• Come Dine With Me (2009)

[edit] Theatre

• An Inspector Calls
• Nightshade
• The Lion in Winter
• Hedda Gabler
• Rebecca
• Laura
• Absolute Hell
• Macbeth
• Calendar Girls

[edit] Directed

• Double D (play)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• June Brown at the Internet Movie Database
• Performances listed in Theatre Archive University of Bristol