From ingénue working for Noel Coward to Mother in AbFab, comedy actress June Whitfield has collaborated with a Who’s Who of British comic greats, including Jimmy Edwards, Tony Hancock, Arthur Askey, Benny Hill, Frankie Howerd, Dick Emery, Ronnie Barker, Bob Monkhouse, Rod Hudd and Julian Clary. And in a career that has almost seemed to get better with age, her shows have always numbered among the nation’s favourites, from Steptoe and Son and the Carry On films to Miss Marple and Only Fools and Horses.

In Carry On Abroad (1972)

At the birth of sitcom in the 1950s, Whitfield was the eternal fiancée Eth, coaxing her dozy Ron Glum towards the altar in radio’s Take It From Here, written by Frank Muir and Dennis Norden. In the 1970s, she was the archetypal housewife in Terry and June, whose husband was a middle-aged schoolboy. And since the 1990s she has been Mother, the sweetly insane parent to Edina (Jennifer Saunders) in Absolutely Fabulous, with a tendency to kleptomania and a cruel innocence to her put-downs (Edina: “Inside of me, there’s a thin person just screaming to get out.” Mother: “Just the one, dear?”).

Look forward to a highly entertaining evening of clips and conversation as June talks with Glenn Mitchell about her many career highlights.

This Cine Sisters event is being run in association with De Montfort University’s Cinema & Television History Research Centre.

Doors open at 18.30 for a 19.30 start. Cafe/bar.

Tickets & Pricing

Spring Season 2013 ticketing applies. Advance tickets may be purchased from WeGotTickets, or direct from the Museum.