Actor John Altman has many reasons to feel grateful to June Brown, the soap legend who played his chain-smoking, launderette assistant mum Dot Cotton in EastEnders.
There were the hours she spent rehearsing with him at her home for the iconic scenes they created as Dot and her wayward son “Nasty” Nick Cotton.
Then there was all the personal and professional advice, which she doled out over coffee in her dressing room, and the touchingly close 37-year friendship, which gave them such a bond that John was invited to be one of June’s last visitors, other than family, before her death this week at the age of 95.
But top of his reasons to be grateful is the fact that June saved his daughter Rosanna’s life when she almost drowned.
Struggling
John, 70, says: “It makes me emotional thinking about it. We took a trip to Gibraltar in the summer of 1992 for a charity cricket tournament.
“Relaxing by the pool on the Saturday afternoon at the Rock Hotel, I said to Rosanna, who was six at the time, ‘You shouldn’t run beside the pool with a towel wrapped around you. It’s far too big and you’ll trip on it’.
“She said, ‘Don’t worry, Daddy, I’ll be careful’. I turned back to the conversation with other guests at the table, which was right next to the pool.
“A little later we were interrupted by a splash and June, who was facing the pool, said, ‘I think that was Rosanna, dear’. I leapt to my feet. Rosanna was nowhere to be seen. She’d fallen in, sunk straight to the bottom, then bobbed up and was struggling.
“I took her in my arms and got her out, thanking June profusely.
“I dried off my daughter and I couldn’t be cross with her. I was just so glad she was safe and sound.
“God bless June. I’ll always feel indebted to her.”
As Nick and Dot, they had a dysfunctional mother and son relationship that gripped millions of fans.
But away from the Albert Square set, there was a chance the pair could have become real-life family.
John says: “I met up with June for the first time at Elstree in March 1985. Her daughter Louise was there and I have to say I found her very attractive.
“At one time I was torn between Louise and my girlfriend at the time, Bridget. I remained true to Bridget because I’d been going out with her for a few months. But Louise was a beautiful lady and still is.
“We both liked each other very much and got on well, as we do today. But Louise is married so I don’t want to make a big thing of it or embarrass her because it was a long time ago.”
But over the years, he has mused on what life as June’s son-in-law would have been like. “I’ve often wondered. It would’ve been quite interesting if we’d embarked on a relationship, wouldn’t it?”
Instead, he married Bridget Poodhun in 1986 and they share daughter Rosanna and seven-year-old granddaughter Lily. He and Bridget split 11 years later when he was at the height of his fame as one of EastEnders’ original cast.
June, who filmed her last scene in February 2020, joined the BBC soap in July, 1985, five months after Nick had begun terrorising Albert Square.
John and June formed an instant bond that lasted until her death.
He says: “On February 19, a few days after June’s 95th birthday, I was honoured to visit her. She didn’t have many visitors, by her own request, so I felt very grateful to be there.
“June was tucked up under blankets in a wheelchair in her living room, with a lovely view of her garden. I kind of knew she was near the end of her life. I told her I loved her and held her warm, frail hand. I managed to make her laugh a few times. And she, as always, made me laugh.
“She would have liked to have been a dame and called her OBE ‘One Boiled Egg’, which I believe is what the royal family call it.
“She said if it wasn’t for me, she wouldn’t have been in EastEnders. I’d never thought of that before. I hugged her and we said our goodbyes.”
June, who was married twice and is survived by five children, was lovingly cared for by her family in the last months of her life. Last summer, her son-in-law carried her into the garden and on to a sun bed. John says: “She said how lovely it was to listen to the birds, drinking in the fresh air.
“Her daughter Naomi took her out for a final drive, which she loved. She sat in the front seat of Naomi’s Mini with all the windows open.”
In their decades of friendship, June was happy to give advice, not all of it good. Impersonating June’s voice perfectly, John says: “After I gave up smoking, she said, ‘Oh dear, you’re so tense since you gave up the cigarettes. I think you should take it up again’.
“June would often tell me what to do. She could be quite bossy. About my hair, she’d say, ‘Oh dear, I don’t like it like that, all slicked back. Mess it up a bit’. And she wanted me to go on the Hay diet to lose a bit of weight.”
But she also kept her sense of humour, laughing it off when she was passed over for a Best Actress BAFTA in 2009 for Dot’s famous monologue.
Get all the biggest showbiz news straight to your inbox. Sign up for the free Mirror Showbiz newsletter.
John says: “Her daughters got a wooden plinth and some tinfoil and made a ‘Nafta’. Her Nafta is in a glass case at the BBC along with BAFTAs and soap awards.”
And, even though she missed out on the award, June would have been up for a celebration. He says: “June could out-party me. Even in her early 80s. I’d be going home and she’d stay out enjoying a glass of red wine.
“She was also incredibly wise. When I thought I’d have to think about going back to EastEnders to have Nick killed off, June said, ‘You may as well. If you don’t they’ll kill you off-screen. You might as well earn a few bob.”
He remembers with fondness his friend’s generosity, with her fans and with her charity work.
He says: “When it came to her charity work, I used to tell her off. She could never say no and tired herself out. She had such a good heart.
“She always agreed to selfies. And always answered fan mail, piles of it.”
June was “unafraid of death”.
He says: “She said she was tired and felt ready to go. June and I were quite spiritual together. She firmly believed she woould see her sisters and parents when she passed on and definitely believed in an afterlife of some form.
“June and I had the best professional relationships and a deep and treasured friendship. That gap will never be filled.”
Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at webcelebs@mirror.co.uk or call us direct at 0207 29 33033.
