Actress Barbara Windsor, best known as the buxom, blonde-haired star of Britain's hit "Carry On" film franchise, has died at the age of 83, her husband said Friday.
Windsor made nine appearances in the innuendo-laden comedy films, and later became a mainstay as pub landlady Peggy Mitchell in the popular television soap opera "EastEnders."
She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2014 and campaigned for better care for those suffering with dementia and associated diseases.
Her husband, Scott Mitchell, who was at her side in the London care home when she died, said Windsor's "final weeks were typical of how she lived her life."
He added she was "full of humor, drama and a fighting spirit until the end."
The Alzheimer’s Society said Windsor “was an amazingly true, much-loved national treasure, and in speaking out about her experiences shone like a beacon for others affected by dementia.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Windsor had been “part of all of our lives, part of my life.”
“And she was one of those people that just cheered you up, and cheered everybody up because she had a kind of irrepressible naughtiness that was totally innocent," he said. “And whenever she went into a room — and she did a lot of good work for charity and looking after lonely and vulnerable people — she lit up people’s faces.”
