LEGEND LOST
June Spencer dead: BBC star who played Peggy in The Archers dies aged 105 as emotional tributes pour in
Queen Camilla was among June's many fans
BBC STAR June Spencer, who played Peggy in The Archers, has died aged 105.
A statement said June died peacefully in her sleep in the early hours of this morning.
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It read: "Her family would like to pay particular tribute and thanks to the staff team at Liberham Lodge, who so lovingly cared for her in the last two years."
June played old-fashioned rural lady Peggy Woolley in Radio 4 and was the last surviving original cast member.
Queen Camilla was among her fans - inviting her to Clarence House for a reception to mark the show's 70th anniversary.
At the time, Camilla said: "June's character Peggy is a true national treasure.
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"She has been part of my life, and millions of others, for as long as I can remember."
In a 2019 interview, June said: "I had no idea I'd be ever be 100 for a start, let alone still working!
"It's been marvellous, I hope I can keep on doing it for a bit, and perhaps set an example to older people who have just given up."
Speaking in 2022, she added: "In 1950 I helped to plant an acorn. It took root.
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"In January 1951 it was planted out and called The Archers. Over the years it has thrived.
"It has become a splendid great tree with many branches - but now this old branch, known as Peggy, has become weak and unsafe.
"I decided it was high time she 'boughed' out, so I have duly lopped her."
Away from The Archers, June also appeared on Doctors and Songs of Praise.
The Archers editor Jeremy Howe said: "Working with June was like working with a legend, and has been one of the great privileges of my time at the BBC.
"Here was this person, immaculately dressed and sitting bolt upright in the Green Room at BBC Birmingham, script at the ready, all meticulously marked up with little pencil squiggles and dashes like musical notation, who had been in the first ever episode of the Archers back in 1951.
"June Spencer wasn’t just a brilliant Peggy Woolley, the ultimate matriarch of Ambridge, but a brilliant actress.
"I only ever worked with her in radio, but her technique, her precision, her delivery were flawless.
"One of the cast once remarked that in all her time in the show he had only ever heard her fluff her lines the once.
"She was an actress who revelled in her craft, someone who could score a bullseye with a gently insulting cough as if it were a bon mot from Oscar Wilde.
"She was also a great company member – funny, sharp, warm, never gossipy, but with wonderful stories of the early days of radio drama, self deprecating and a great companion.
"The two things I would never commit to with June were being driven by her at the age of one hundred and one or taking her on at Scrabble.
"She was a Scrabble demon. June’s Peggy Woolley was and always will be the Queen of Ambridge.
"With her death The Archers has lost its link with the birth of the show over seventy years ago. It is a humbling moment for us all."
Radio 4 Controller Mohit Bakaya said: "June Spencer has been a longstanding presence and companion for Radio 4 listeners during her exceptional run on The Archers.
"Many have grown up with June as Peggy and listened as she journeyed through life’s many chapters, with all of its ups and downs.
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"In her later years, her portrayal of a devoted wife caring for a husband with Dementia, including their very moving final goodbye, was deeply poignant and powerful radio.
"We send all our love and condolences to June’s family and the many people whose lives she touched."
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