Beloved English actress June Spencer has died. BBC reports that Spencer, who played Peggy Woolley on the long-running BBC Radio 4 drama The Archers, died at 105 on Nov. 8. On behalf of her family, a statement said, “June Spencer, aged 105, best known for playing Peggy in BBC Radio 4 The Archers, died peacefully in her sleep in the early hours of this morning. Her family would like to pay particular tribute and thanks to the staff team at Liberham Lodge (care home in Surrey), who so lovingly cared for her in the last two years.”
Spencer was born on June 14, 1919 in Nottingham, England. She joined an amateur dramatic society, later earning a London Guildhall School of Music and Drama certificate. Additionally, she studied at Stockwin Music College beginning at age 12. After doing appearances at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, she joined a theatre company. She later joined BBC Radio, appearing on programs such as Children’s Hour and Dick Barton: Special Agent.
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In 1950, Spencer joined the British soap opera The Archers, which premiered in 1951. Initially billed as “an everyday story of country folk,” the series has aired over 20,000 episodes and is the world’s longest-running present-day drama, which is now promoted as “a contemporary drama in a rural setting.” Spencer played Peggy Woolley until her retirement in 2022, but not consistently. She left the series in 1953, with Peggy being played by Thelma Rogers. In 1956, she returned to play Rita Flynn until 1958 and again in 1961 before leaving again the following year to return to the stage, but soon after, taking up Peggy once again.
In addition to The Archers, June Spencer also appeared on the BBC religious series Songs of Praise as well as medical soap opera Doctors. In 2010, she published her autobiography, The Road to Ambridge: My Life, Peggy and The Archers. That same year, she received the Freedom of the City of London and was also made an OBE and CBE.
Current The Archers editor Jeremy Howe said working with Spencer “was like working with a legend. June’s Peggy Woolley was and always will be the Queen of Ambridge, and with her death, The Archers has lost its link with the birth of the show over 70 years ago. It is a humbling moment for us all.”
