Acting is something I love. I have done it since I was 13 but it had completely taken over my life.”

There were thousands of people lining the Mile End Road, cheering and waving flags. Evidently Ronnie and Reggie (Kray) had turned them all out of their houses, saying: ‘Let’s welcome out little lady. Let’s show royalty how we are.’” - On the 1963 premiere of the film Sparrows Can’t Sing which earned her a Bafta nomination.

Scott Mitchell and Dame Barbara Windsor have both been praised for their work raising awareness of dementia (PA) Dame Barbara’s recording of Sparrows Can’t Sing from her 1963 film of the same name was played as the recessional music. Mr Mitchell arrived at the crematorium in the first funeral car, ahead of a car containing his mother Rita Mitchell, who introduced the couple, and his sister Marsha and brother-in-law Laurence, who make up his Covid bubble. The actress, known for her work in the Carry On films and EastEnders, died in December at the age of 83. I found myself in the doldrums in the early Nineties. I was too old to play the dolly bird any longer and I looked too young to play a woman of my real age. No one ever saw me as the aunt, mother or grandmother.”

The couple have been widely praised for their work raising awareness for Alzheimer’s disease after the actress went public with her diagnosis in 2018. The actress recalled he shouted at her: “You’ve gone and shown your right t*t. The censor won’t pass that. We’ll have to do it again.” He added: “I would again like to thank my family, friends, the media and the public for their incredible support and well wishes since Barbara’s passing.They got the fishing rod and put it there and he (the prop man) had to pull it. Of course, it didn’t come off. I went right down into the mud.” Windsor added: “So I did it three times and the third one was perfect. When they took it to the censor, John Trevellyan, he said, ‘Well, I don’t think Miss Windsor’s right boob is going to corrupt the nation, I’ll pass it.’ We were at dinner while working on the show Carry on London, when Sid James whispered:, '[Do you know something, Barbara, they’re not as big as they look on screen - your bosoms'. 'It’s called acting, darling,' I replied.” After I’d discovered the joys of sex, I became a right little goer. There were men round me like bees round a honeypot, and I took advantage of that and went bananas. And because I was still so naïve, I never bothered with any contraception.” After more than six decades in the public eye as a beloved star of stage and screen (big and small) there is still one scene that everyone remembers.