Barbara Windsor, EastEnders and Carry On legend, dies at 83

Eastenders actress and Carry On legend, Dame Barbara Windsor, has sadly passed away at the age of 83.

Barbara’s husband, Scott Mitchell, revealed the news that she died at a London care home at 8:35pm on Thursday, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s.

"Her passing was from Alzheimer's/dementia and Barbara eventually died peacefully and I spent the last seven days by her side,” he said in a statement made to PA.

He said her final weeks were "full of humour, drama and a fighting spirit until the end".

"Myself, her family and friends will remember Barbara with love, a smile and affection for the many years of her love, fun, friendship and brightness she brought to all our lives and the entertainment she gave to so many thousands of others during her career.

“It was not the ending that Barbara or anyone else living with this very cruel disease deserves. I will always be immensely proud of Barbara’s courage, dignity and generosity dealing with her own illness and still trying to help others by raising awareness for as long as she could.”

Barbara Windsor famously played Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders from 1994 - 2010, where she cemented herself as an icon of the silver screen.

Peggy’s “get outta my pub!” line soon became a catchphrase of hers, as she dealt with unruly customers in The Queen Vic pub.

She returned to the role in 2016 as a farewell, where her character Peggy was killed off.

She first appeared in a Carry On film in 1964 called Carry On Spying, in which she played Daphne Honeybutt. She went on to make nine appearances in the franchise, including in Carry On Camping as Babs, Carry On Doctor as Nurse Sandra May and Carry On Matron as Nurse Susan Ball.

Barbara also received a Tony Award nomination for her role in Oh, What A Lovely War.

Throughout her career, she also featured in Dad’s Army, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Doctor Who.

In 2016, Barbara was made a Dame for her services to charity and entertainment.

Barbara was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2014 but didn’t reveal the news publicly until 2018.

In June, she was admitted to full-time residential care after her condition worsened during COVID-19 lockdown.

Her husband of 20 years, Scott Mitchell, said the decision was heartbreaking.

"I feel I'm on an emotional rollercoaster. I walk around, trying to keep busy, then burst in to tears. It feels like a bereavement,” he told The Sun.

"By the time I got home and went to bed, I just felt desperately sad. It's been 27 years since we met and we spent so much of that time in each other's company. It feels like another chapter has gone."

He said by June it was obvious that Barbara need full-time professional care as she sometimes didn’t even recognise her home.

In September last year, Barbara hand delivered a letter to Downing Street signed by 100,000 people urging the government to reform care for dementia patients.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told her, according to Sky News: "We'll do this. It's very hard. We have to sort it out. I'm going to do my best for you. It's a big old job."

Never miss a thing. Sign up to Yahoo Lifestyle’s daily newsletter.

Or if you have a story idea, email us at lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com.