Veteran Actress June Spencer, Star of The Archers, Dies at 105

June Spencer, the actress who portrayed the matriarch Peggy Woolley in BBC Radio 4’s enduring drama The Archers from 1951 until her retirement in 2022, has passed away at the age of 105. Spencer was among the initial cast members of the program. Jeremy Howe, the current editor of the show, commented that collaborating with her “was like working with a legend.” He further stated: “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.” A statement from her family confirmed that she died peacefully in her sleep during the early hours of Friday. The character of Peggy Woolley, previously Archer, was frequently perceived as a traditionalist, conservative figure within the soap opera, which chronicles the daily life in the fictional village of Ambridge. In a tribute, Radio 4 controller Mohit Bakaya remarked: “June Spencer has been a longstanding presence and companion for Radio 4 listeners during her exceptional run on The Archers. Many have grown up with June as Peggy and listened as she journeyed through life’s many chapters, with all of its ups and downs. In her later years, her portrayal of a devoted wife caring for a husband with dementia, including their very moving final goodbye, was deeply poignant and powerful radio. We send all our love and condolences to June’s family and the many people whose lives she touched.” Howe also described working with the actress as “one of the great privileges of my time at the BBC.” He elaborated: “June Spencer wasn’t just a brilliant Peggy Woolley, the ultimate matriarch of Ambridge, but a brilliant actress. I only ever worked with her in radio, but her technique, her precision, her delivery were flawless. One of the cast once remarked that in all her time in the show he had only ever heard her fluff her lines the once. She was an actress who revelled in her craft, someone who could score a bullseye with a gently insulting cough as if it were a bon mot from Oscar Wilde. She was also a great company member – funny, sharp, warm, never gossipy, but with wonderful stories of the early days of radio drama, self deprecating and a great companion.” Spencer’s family conveyed their desire to “pay particular tribute and thanks to the staff team at Liberham Lodge, who so lovingly cared for her in the last two years.” In 2019, Spencer, then the program’s sole remaining original cast member, commented: “I had no idea I’d be ever be 100 for a start, let alone still working! It’s been marvellous, I hope I can keep on doing it for a bit, and perhaps set an example to older people who have just given up,” she said. Three years later, when she decided it was time to depart from the show, she stated: “In 1950 I helped to plant an acorn. It took root and in January 1951 it was planted out and called The Archers.” She added that “over the years it has thrived and become a splendid great tree with many branches. But now this old branch, known as Peggy, has become weak and unsafe so I decided it was high time she ‘boughed’ out, so I have duly lopped her.” The current Queen was among Spencer’s numerous admirers. As Duchess of Cornwall, she extended an invitation to the actress and her co-stars to Clarence House for a reception in 2021, commemorating the show’s 70th anniversary. Last year, the Queen also marked the 20,000th episode of the series by raising a glass to the “joy, tears and laughter” it provides. Her Majesty honored Spencer in a social media post, referring to her as “a much-loved part of so many people’s lives, brilliantly combining in Peggy Woolley the roles of reassuring matriarch and ‘gangsta granny’.” She concluded: “She will be greatly missed and I send my heartfelt condolences to her family.” In the mid-1950s, Spencer took a temporary hiatus from playing Peggy, and Thelma Rogers assumed the role. Spencer returned to the character in the early 1960s following Rogers’ departure. Spencer was honored with both an OBE and CBE, and in June 2010, she was granted the Freedom of the City of London.