(Photo: Getty Images)
June Brown, the actress who played one of the best-loved characters in British TV, EastEnders' Dot Cotton, has died at age 95. 
Brown's family told the BBC that she had passed "very peacefully" at her home on Sunday night. The BBC's director-general Tim Davie said in a statement: "June Brown was a brilliantly talented actor who was loved by millions. Her performances as the incomparable Dot Cotton delivered some of the most memorable moments in soap history."
Brown played Dot Cotton, a launderette worker known for her religious beliefs, gossipy demeanor, and ever present cigarette, in 2884 episodes of EastEnders between 1985 and 1993, and then again from 1997 to 2020.
In 2008, she became the first (and to date only) British soap actor to carry an entire episode as a monologue. She earned a BAFTA TV award nomination for her performance in the episode "Pretty Baby...," becoming only the second soap actor to be recognized by BAFTA in this way.

Brown trained as an actress at London's Old Vic Theatre School and worked extensively on stage and screen for more than 30 years before landing her signature role in EastEnders. Her other TV credits included episodes of The Sweeney, Minder, Survivors, Coronation Street, and Doctor Who, in which she played Lady Eleanor of Wessex in "The Time Warrior," parts one through four. 
In a tribute tweet, the EastEnders press office said Brown's "loving warmth, wit and great humour will never be forgotten."

(Photo: Twitter)
Brown was awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 2008 and an OBE earlier this year, both for services to drama and charity. She is survived by six children.
You can read our recent British Icon feature dedicated to June Brown here.
Rest in Peace, and thank you for your contribution.