June Brown

“I think when you are older, you should be slowing down, but I wouldn't like not to work as I would get rather miserable.”

“I don't want a retainer for 'EastEnders,' I've left. I've left for good.”

“I never had the money to start a pension - I didn't start to make any real money until I was 58 - and now it's not worth much.”

“It's much easier for me to cry and do all those things on the stage than in real life.”

“It's a dreadful thing to be strapped for cash when you are elderly. It's awful when you're young, too, but you always have hope.”

“I can't say my life has been dominated by tragedy. I refuse to accept that. I've had less than some, more than others.”

“I would be happy if I were Jesus. I'd like to fix everyone else's problems more than my own.”

“I was not a witty girl.”

“If I'd stayed at home I'd have married as a virgin. But, in the heady post-war years, I fell in love all the time.”

“I would not like to go into a care home. That's my worst fear. I like my own home and would like to die here.”

“I didn't know much about the East End and I didn't go trudging round to research it - couldn't be bothered with all that - but my grandmother was a cockney so I used her voice for Dot. I don't think it sounded very real at the beginning.”

“Many gays have a good sense of humour and they like the wit I hopefully put into my performances.”

“In fact I became so punctual I used to be in an hour before I should be.”

“I'm not a star, darling.”

“When I was 17-and-a-half I volunteered for the Wrens. I auditioned for a play and we took it round the Southern Command area and I really enjoyed it. I got laughs and that was when the bug got me.”

“I've got very poor sight.”

“Don't like makeup. I don't use it much unless I go out - I think it makes you look older.”

“I've known great happiness.”

“You've always got to have something to say, haven't you? For an interview. Something to talk about.”

“I felt an intense loneliness after my sister died. I was seven at the time, she was eight, and I realised after her death that she accepted me for who I was.”