June Rosemary Whitfield DBE (born 11th November 1925 in Streatham, London; died 29th December 2018 in Kingston upon Thames, London) appeared on Coronation Street in May 2010 as May Penn, who broke the news of the passing of her friend, Blanche Hunt.
She was an evacuee during World War II and moved around the country, to Bognor Regis, Penzance, Huddersfield (where she learned typing and shorthand) and back to London. She continued her secretarial studies at Pitman's College in Brixton Hill, before persuing a career in acting - graduating from RADA in 1944 and began her career on radio.
Her comedy talents would then transcend to television when she starred in classic sitcoms such as The Dick Emery Show, The Pallisers and Bless This House which lead to her teaming up with fellow actor Terry Scott in 1979 for the series entitled Terry and June which would run for a total of 65 episodes until 1987. She also enjoyed regular roles in Beggar My Neighbour, Happy Ever After, Absolutely Fabulous and Last of the Summer Wine. Other television credits included Fast and Loose, Before Your Very Eyes, The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d, How to Be an Alien, Baxter on..., Call It What You Like, Mild and Bitter, Hancock's, Scott on..., The Best Things in Life, The Pallisers, Cluedo, Family Money, Wryd Sisters, The Green Green Grass, Doctor Who, Boomers and EastEnders.
Film roles included Quiet Weekend, The 20 Questions Murder Mystery, Carry on Nurse, Friends and Neighbours, Double Bunk, The Spy with a Cold Nose, The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins, Bless This House, Carry on Abroad, Carry on Girls, Not Now, Comrade, Carry on Columbus, Jude, Faeries, Innocent, Run for Your Wife and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.
On stage, she appeared in productions of Ace of Clubs, Women of Twilight, Penny Plain, Love from Judy, A Talent to Amuse, A Bedfull of Foreigners, Not Now, Darling, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Rivals, Semi-Monde, Ring Round the Moon, Over My Dead Body and Bedroom Farce.
Special guest on two editions of This Is Your Life, transmitted on 14th April 1976 and 8th March 1995, she was made a Freeman of the City of London in 1982, appointed an OBE in the 1985 Birthday Honours, CBE in the 1998 Birthday Honours and DBE in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to drama and entertainment. She was also given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the British Comedy Awards in 1994.
