Babs Windsor: the daring, giggling pearly queen of the screen Mark Lawson
(Video by Dailymotion)
When Barbara Deeks, a 16-year-old actor from east London, was encouraged to choose a stage name in 1953, it might seem arrogant that she borrowed from the newly crowned Queen of the United Kingdom.
As it turned out, though, the cheeky moniker proved prophetic. It grew to seem entirely fitting that the long-serving monarch should share a surname with a woman who became showbiz aristocracy.
She was accepted as British acting’s Pearly Queen – her Cockney accent and background always important to her career-defining roles – long before Elizabeth II conferred on her the title of Dame of the British Empire in 2016.
With her irresistible chuckling laugh and signature crop of bright blonde hair, Dame Barbara Windsor was as much as a part of the nation’s landscape as Big Ben and tea and biscuits.
One of Britain’s favourite entertainment stars, cockney heroine Dame Barbara first become famous for her appearances as a buxom blonde in the Carry On films.
Successfully crossing the generational divide, she later became just as revered for her role as Peggy Mitchell, the Queen Vic’s battle-axe landlady in EastEnders who was known for yelling at rogue drinkers to “get outta my pub!”.
Sid James and Barbara Windsor in 1963 (EMPICS UK/PA)
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Dame Barbara Windsor, actress of irrepressible good humour in Carry On films and EastEnders – obituary
The reality of her life differed from the chirpy image she projected, but her acting gifts were spotted early on by Joan Littlewood
11 December 2020 • 9:28am
The Queen visiting the set of the Queen Vic pub with Barbara Windsor (Peggy Mitchell) and Steve McFadden who played her son Phil, 2001
Credit: Anwar Hussein/Getty
Dame Barbara Windsor, the actress who has died aged 83, became a national institution by passing off high bosoms and low comedy in the Carry On films, and after many vicissitudes ended her career playing Peggy Mitchell, landlady of the Queen Vic in EastEnders.