A veteran tv star remembered for her “beautiful smile” has died simply days after celebrating her ninety fifth birthday. Actress and singer Jean Dike — recognized professionally as June Marlow — died on February 22 at her beloved home overlooking Sutton Harbour in Plymouth, surrounded by household. Jean spent her last weeks within the condominium she had lived in for 35 years, supported by carers from St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth and her daughter Kate Van Dike, who moved in to take care of her full-time.
Tributes shortly poured in for the glamorous entertainer — a well-recognized face on each BBC and ITV — in addition to a loyal mom and grandmother, together with her household describing her life as one marked by “dignity, elegance and grace.” Kate praised the hospice crew who enabled Jean to stay at residence throughout her last days. She mentioned: “They treated Mum with such tenderness and acknowledged her as the most important person. We could never have cared for her at home without their help.” She added that the nurses’ arrival typically felt like ‘the cavalry arriving’ as her mom’s well being declined.
Despite turning into more and more frail, Jean remained decided to not dwell on her situation. “Mum didn’t want to focus on that,” Kate defined. “She kept looking forward and was always pragmatic and driven.”
Friends say that resilience outlined the performer, who spent a long time entertaining audiences and sustaining a robust connection to her hometown of Plymouth.
Even in her last days, the heat that followers and family members remembered by no means light. Kate revealed: “Even at the end she was still able to flash her beautiful smile.”
She is survived by her household, who say they’re comforted by the actual fact she was in a position to spend her last days within the place she cherished most, surrounded by those that cherished her.
Born on January 15, 1931, Jean grew up in Plymouth’s close-knit Barbican neighborhood, the place her aptitude for entertaining was evident from a younger age.
Teachers had been mentioned to be captivated by her performances in class nativity performs, the place she not solely sang however delighted classmates with impressions of Hollywood icons together with Mae West.
That early ardour led to a protracted and diversified profession on display. Jean appeared in various BBC productions over the a long time, together with variations of The Pickwick Papers and Jamaica Inn, in addition to the youngsters’s collection MI High, the place she shared scenes with comedy favorite June Whitfield.
She later grew to become a well-recognized face to ITV audiences via a number of appearances in Doc Martin, starring reverse Martin Clunes, cementing her popularity as a reliable character actress with a heat on-screen presence.
Remarkably, Jean continued working effectively into her later years. Her last tv position got here on the age of 87, when she performed Ethel — an accident sufferer who had fallen and impaled her hand on a rusty nail.
