June Spencer: The veteran Archers actress who charmed the Queen

Veteran histrion June Spencer delighted The Archers listeners and the Queen with her relation arsenic strong-minded Peggy Woolley for decades.

She died “peacefully successful her sleep” successful the aboriginal hours of Friday astatine the property of 105, her household said successful a connection shared by the BBC.

Spencer archetypal appeared successful The Archers’ aviator occurrence successful 1950, and connected aerial her storylines saw her quality woody with alcoholism, gambling and bereavement.

A fewer years aft the show’s motorboat successful 1951, Spencer took a interruption to absorption connected her young household and Thelma Rogers replaced her successful the role. She returned successful 1961 and remained successful the relation until her status successful 2022.

Peggy was often viewed arsenic a traditionalist, a blimpish quality successful the long-running play charting the ups and downs of beingness successful fictional Ambridge.

Peggy’s archetypal husband, Jack Archer, was a gambler and an alcoholic, and her second, Jack Woolley, played by Arnold Peters, suffered from dementia, which led to her being progressive successful a moving dementia storyline agelong earlier the information became a nationalist talking point.

Away from The Archers, the Nottingham-born histrion suffered her ain idiosyncratic grief, with the decease of her hubby and their adopted son.

Her husband, Roger Brocksom, died successful 2001 aft having dementia, soon earlier her on-air hubby successful The Archers had Alzheimer’s, and her lad David, a dancer, died aft suffering from alcoholism.

Her galore fans implicit the years included the Queen, who successful 2021 invited Spencer and her co-stars to Clarence House for a reception marking the show’s 70th anniversary.

Camilla besides made a cameo quality arsenic herself successful a peculiar occurrence marking the 60th day of the show.

In a connection astatine the time, Camilla called Peggy “a existent nationalist treasure who has been portion of my life, and millions of others, for arsenic agelong arsenic I tin remember”.

Spencer was made some an OBE and a CBE for her services to play and charity.

In June 2010, she besides received the Freedom of the City of London and was awarded a beingness accomplishment prize astatine the 2014 BBC Audio Drama Awards.

She celebrated her 100th day successful 2019, and successful an interrogation to observe the milestone, told the PA quality bureau astir keeping her caput healthy.

She said: “I bash a batch of Scrabble clubs. My hubby utilized to play with me, and erstwhile helium died I founded one.”

Spencer said she besides did crossword puzzles and was “addicted to Codewords”.

The histrion besides revealed successful a 2010 interrogation with the Church Times, that she had “played 2 characters successful The Archers erstwhile it started — I was besides Rita Flynn, the flighty Irish girl”.

She added: “Most of america had to play antithetic characters then. I could disguise my voice, and did masses of Children’s Hours. I could play a 12-year-old miss successful rep erstwhile I was 23, due to the fact that I was tiny and slim”.

Outside her acting work, Spencer enjoyed gardening and had won awards astatine colony horticultural shows for her roses.

She besides had a 2nd location successful Menorca.

In the past 2 years of her beingness she was cared for astatine Liberham Lodge attraction location successful Surrey.