Barbara Windsor ✝

Dame Barbara Windsor DBE (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 1937 – 10 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera, EastEnders. She joined the cast of EastEnders in 1994 and won the 1999 British Soap Award for Best Actress, before ultimately leaving the show in 2016 when her character was killed off. Windsor began her career on stage in 1950 at the age of 13, and made her film debut as a schoolgirl in The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954) while studying shipping management at Bow Technical College. She received a BAFTA Award nomination for the film Sparrows Can't Sing (1963), and a Tony Award nomination for the 1964 Broadway production of Oh, What a Lovely War!. In 1972, she starred opposite Vanessa Redgrave in the West End production of The Threepenny Opera. Between 1964 and 1974, she appeared in nine Carry On films, including Carry On Spying (1964), Carry On Doctor (1967), Carry On Camping (1969), Carry On Henry (1971), and Carry On Abroad (1972). She also co-presented the 1977 Carry On compilation That's Carry On!. Along with Jim Dale, she was one of the last surviving regulars on the series. Her other film roles included A Study in Terror (1965), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), and as the voice of Mallymkun, the Dormouse in Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016).