June Brown is an English Actress renowned for playing the role of Dot Cotton in the soap opera EastEnders on BBC from 1985 -1993. The much-loved actress had a diverse and conspicuous career spanning over 67 years. She worked in theatre, television, and films. She has won Inside Soap Award for best actress and the Lifetime Achievement Award at British Soap Awards. She has also been nominated in BAFTA for her work in Soap Opera. In 2008 Birthday Honors, she was awarded MBE Member of the Order of the British Empire for her contributions to performing arts and charity.
In this article, we have put together every itsy-bitsy detail about her life. Her Net worth, early life, Children, Age, Education, and career highlights. If you are ready Let’s Start!
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Net Worth
As of February 2020, June Brown’s net worth lies between $1 Million-$5 Million. The accurate figures are not known yet. The primary source of her income was her acting career as a soap opera actress. She acted in thirteen films and over twenty television shows. She is one of Britain’s most recognized and richest actresses according to Forbes. Throughout her career, the veteran actress has proved herself as a mature and skilled actor and became a national institution by playing snooper, Dot in EastEnders. She is also a recipient of many prestigious awards in the honor of her services to performing arts.
Early Life/Family
June was born on 16 February 1927 in Needham Market, Suffolk to the parents Louisa Ann and William Melton Brown. Her birth name is June Muriel Brown. She had five siblings. In 1932, June was seven when her baby brother aged 16 days died of pneumonia. In 1934, bad luck strikes the family again and her elder sister Marise aged eight, died from mastoiditis, an ear infection. She has Scottish, Italian, Irish, and Sephardic Jewish ancestry. Jewish bare-knuckle boxer Isaac Bitton is her ancestor from the maternal grandmother’s side. She is a follower of Christianity.
Children / Personal life
Brown got married to actor John Garley at the age of 23. In 1957, John suffered from acute depression and committed suicide by inhaling carbon monoxide. June doesn’t let this tragedy affect her life and married actor, Robert Arnold in 1958. Robert was well-known for his BBC TV Program Dixon of Dock Green as PC Swain in 1958. They had forty-five years of companionship and got blessed with six children but sadly lost one of them in infancy. Arnold lost his life to Lewy body dementia in 2003.
Age
As of February 2020, 93 years old actress is still alive and kicking. She is now living alone in Surrey. During an interview in 2017 aged 92, she said that in spite of having eye surgery her eight sight is constantly declining due to macular degeneration and she is facing other age-related issues too. She no longer can recognize her acquaintances. She is an avid smoker and fond of red wine and dark chocolate, even though she is allergic to it. She was a constant in the EastEnders since 1985, and finally announce her retirement from acting in 2018.
Education
Brown received his early education from St. John’s Church of England School located in Ipswich. Later she got admitted to Ipswich High School on a scholarship from where she passed her School Certificate examinations, a standard qualification in the United Kingdom. By that time the Second World War started, Brown’s family was exiled to Pontyates, a village located in Wales. She was 18 and got training at Old Vic Theatre School in Lambeth and served in the Wrens which formed in 1917 during the first World War. She served in Women’s Royal Naval Service from 1944-1945.
Professional Career
June had a varied acting career, before getting her big break she started with minor roles on television like Mrs. Parsons in Coronation Street in 1970-71, the role of Clara in the Play for Today, Edna, the irritable Woman in 1971. As lady Eleanor in the Doctor Who (The Time Warrior) in 1973-74. She had small appearances on tv shows in the following years, South Riding (1974) as Lilly, Churchill’s People (1975) as Agnes Paston, The Sweeney (1975) as Mrs. Martin.
In a comedy-drama Minder (1884), the medical Soap Angels, the cult Sci-fi series Survivors (1977) and in the police soap dram The Bill (1984) as Mrs. Doleman. She got her first noticeable note in the costume drama Duchess of Duke Street as Mrs. Violet Leyton in 1976. In 1985, she appeared in Oliver Twist as Mrs. Mann. She also played some small roles in movies, the role of a grieving mother in the British horror flick Pshycomania in 1971, followed by Sunday Bloody Saturday, and The Straw Dogs in the same year. Sitting Target in 1972, The 14 in 1973, Murder by Decree in 1979, Ninsky in 1980. After three years she appeared in Tv mini-series Lace in 1984.
EastEnders
In 1985, Brown got her breakthrough role in EastEnders along side Cliff Parisi. She was suggested to the producers by one of the earliest cast members of EastEnders Leslie Grantham. She played the character of Dot Cotton, a chain-smoker that rose her to fame as a national legend. She was part of the show from 1985 to 1993 and took a break. She then rejoined the show in 1997. She was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress due to her exceptional performance in the “single header” episode of EastEnders. On 30 April 2012, she went on a six-month break from EastEnders in order to write his autobiography. Her book named “Before the Year Dot” was published in 2013. In 2016, a special storyline was created for her character Dot where her eyesight is worsening.
Her other works include The Mambo Kings 1992 and in Mr. Bean spin-off Bean in 1997. In the same year, she was featured in the Ain’t Misbehavior, a wartime big band comedy. In 2000 she acted as Nanny Slagg in BBC’s high budget creation Gormenghast. In 2006, she played Aunt Spiker, in an all-star event celebrating the 80th Birthday of Queen Elizbeth. In 2010, she participated in the Strictly Come Dancing along with dancing partner Vincent Simone. In 2012, she got the opportunity to hist BBC documentary, Respect Your Elders, which addressees the issue of mistreatment of elders in society. In 2013 she was seen in Heading Out as Sozzie.
In 2017, on her 90th birthday, BBC telecasted a special Program of 30-minutes about her life “June Brown at 90: A Walford Legend” directed by Matt Taylor. The actress reminiscence her life experiences and career along with all the renowned Walford faces who worked with her.
Theatre Career
Brown has also performed at British Theatre. She not only acted but directed various plays as well. She gave directions for Pin Money written by Malcolm Needs, and for Double D by Mathew Westwood performed in Edinburgh and London. She displayed her remarkable acting skills in plays like The Lion Warrior, An Inspector Calls, A View from the Bridge. In 2009, she played Jessie in Calendar Girls at the Noel Coward Theatre. She also did a number of musicals.
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