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Archers Actress No Plans To Retire
June Spencer, the 90-year-old veteran of The Archers, says
she has no plans to retire, describing acting as "the breath of life to me".
Spencer first played Peggy Woolley in a 1950 pilot of the
radio drama and had no idea she would still be playing her nearly 60 years
later.
The only original cast member still in the show told Desert
Island Discs host Kirsty Young: "I love acting so much. I'm lucky to have a
job I can still do."
She spoke fondly of the early days when the show was live and a producer
would tiptoe into the studio and cross out lines over her shoulder while she
was reading.
Spencer, who was given a three-month contract on January 1, 1951 and did not
expect the show to continue, said she does not have much in common with her
Archers character except both love their gardens.
"I don't think Peggy's got a sense of humour and I hope I
have," she added.
Spencer nursed her own husband Roger through Alzheimer's until his death in
2001 and used the experience when scriptwriters decided Peggy's husband Jack
would also develop dementia.
The actress said she was "all for it" and told them: "Let's get all the
publicity we can. Especially the plight of carers, to highlight that as
well."
She said delivering the lines was not upsetting but she would sometimes
"feel the poignancy of it" when she listened to an episode later.
Spencer, who started a Scrabble club after her husband's death, said she
would take the word game to a desert island as her luxury item.
10:15
February 28
2010 - waveguide.co.uk
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