Early career Whitfield began her career in the 1940s working with
Wilfred Pickles, and worked on stage in the
West End and the regions. In 1951, she had her first credited television role in
The Passing Show and joined the London cast of the musical
South Pacific. Her big break came in 1953 when she replaced
Joy Nichols in the successful
Frank Muir and
Denis Norden radio comedy
Take It from Here, co-starring
Jimmy Edwards and
Dick Bentley. In the portion of the show known as "The Glums" she played Eth, fiancée of the dim Ron Glum (played by Bentley). This started a working relationship with
Terry Scott that lasted until 1987. During
Scott On... she also appeared in
The Best Things in Life,
The Goodies,
The Dick Emery Show,
Bless This House and
The Pallisers. She appeared in the spin-off film of
Bless This House (1972), with Scott as her husband, and
Carry On Abroad (also 1972), followed by an appearance in
Carry On Girls (1973). Both had Scott and Whitfield as a suburban
middle-class married couple.
Terry and June ran for
65 episodes until 1987. Five years later, in 1992,
Julian Clary created
Terry and Julian, a
Channel 4 sitcom which spoofed the title of
Terry and June; Whitfield made an appearance in one episode. During the eight-year run of
Terry and June, Whitfield also appeared in ''
It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Minder''. In the 1970s and early 1980s Whitfield appeared in a series of television advertisements created for
Birds Eye by advertising art director Vernon Howe, and featuring the concluding voice-over line: "it can make a dishonest woman of you!" In 1971 Whitfield and
Frankie Howerd recorded a novelty comic version of the song "
Je t'aime", previously recorded by
Jane Birkin and
Serge Gainsbourg, in which she featured as "Mavis". She was the subject of
This Is Your Life on two occasions: in April 1976, when she was surprised by
Eamonn Andrews at her home in Wimbledon; and in March 1995, when
Michael Aspel surprised her at
BBC Television Centre. During the 1980s Whitfield returned to radio comedy. From 1984 she could be heard with
Roy Hudd on the
satire programme
The News Huddlines, and voiced a character in an episode of the animated comedy series
Rex the Runt. Her autobiography
And June Whitfield, written with the help of
Christopher Douglas, appeared in 2000. She appeared in
The Royal, followed by appearances in
Midsomer Murders, ''
Agatha Christie's Marple, New Tricks and Last of the Summer Wine, which she joined in 2005. She had an episode of The South Bank Show'' devoted to her on 29 July 2007 and, in the same year, appeared in the
English National Opera's production of
On the Town in London's
West End. In November 2007, she appeared in the
Only Fools and Horses spin-off
The Green Green Grass as the mother of
Marlene, and in 2008 she appeared in an episode of ITV medical drama
Harley Street. In 2009, she made a guest appearance in
Kingdom and published an updated autobiography,
At a Glance ... An Absolutely Fabulous Life, a collection of scrapbook pictures from her life and career. On 29 December 2009, she was the subject of an entire evening's tribute programming on
BBC Two. In 2010 Whitfield was signed for a short appearance on ITV
soap opera Coronation Street. Her character, May, appeared at the funeral of
Blanche Hunt and explained to Blanche's daughter,
Deirdre, how her mother had died. In 2011, she played
Margaret Rutherford in the BBC Radio 4 play
A Monstrous Vitality, a radio adaption by Andy Merriman of his biography of Rutherford,
A Dreadnought with Good Manners. She reprised her role of Mother in two episodes of
Absolutely Fabulous at Christmas 2011New Year 2012, and for an
Olympic special on 23 July 2012. In 2013, Whitfield became the inaugural recipient of the
Aardman Slapstick Comedy Legend Award, a recognition of her lifetime's contribution to the world of comedy. In 2014, she made a second appearance in
Midsomer Murders, and appeared in
Jonathan Creek. From 2014 to 2016 she appeared in the sitcom
Boomers as the mother of
Stephanie Beacham's character. In 2015, she played Granny Wallon in a BBC One adaptation of
Laurie Lee's novel
Cider with Rosie. In May 2015 Whitfield made a guest appearance in the BBC soap
EastEnders as a nun called
Sister Ruth and returned to the show in January 2016 to complete a storyline. In October 2015, it was confirmed that she would reprise her role of Mother in
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie which was released in July 2016. She made a guest appearance as God in the
Sky 1 series
You, Me and the Apocalypse, which was broadcast in November 2015. ==Honours and awards==