Quotes from June Brown

I never touch fast food.

In fact I became so punctual I used to be in an hour before I should be.

I would be happy if I were Jesus. I'd like to fix everyone else's problems more than my own.

Many gays have a good sense of humour and they like the wit I hopefully put into my performances.

I was not a witty girl.

There are some people who the same things happen to them again and again. They never learn.

My thirties were ruined by being pregnant. I loved my babies but I had been quite successful before I had them, playing Lady Macbeth and Hedda Gabler, one of my favourite roles.

I felt an intense loneliness after my sister died. I was seven at the time, she was eight, and I realised after her death that she accepted me for who I was.

I got a grant for the Old Vic Theatre School in London, which had just started. It was only five terms; they used to break you down and never quite put you together again but it was an excellent training.

Sometimes I wonder if I loved anybody, and yet I think of all the tears I shed and the heartache. It was all such a waste of time.

My handwriting was so good I won a prize, a cardboard cut-out of a farmyard; my mother threw it away when we moved.

I've never entertained the idea of retiring because I've never regarded myself as having a proper job. Anyway, retirement can be the death of you.

I never wanted to be an actress. I wanted to go into the medical professional. Acting was not important enough. That was a hobby - nothing to do with what you did in life.

Old people are considered worthless fuddy-duddies and often overlooked, which makes them sink into loneliness. I noticed it as soon as I started to age.

I get lots of letters, and I reply to them all personally.

I could have played Dot as a very dreary woman with a list of illnesses, but I played her with an edge, so it was funny.

At 16 I was very interested in palmistry. The fate line on my right palm broke into two parts that ran for a quarter of an inch on parallel tracks. I used to look at it and wonder, 'What will happen?'

If your sight is poor, there's very little you can do.

I've got very poor sight.

I do pray about my sight - maybe it will return.

You've always got to have something to say, haven't you? For an interview. Something to talk about.

I can't say my life has been dominated by tragedy. I refuse to accept that. I've had less than some, more than others.

I've had tragedy in my life, but I think that gives me a depth that I can bring to my work. I'd like to see more older women on TV because they can bring that life experience and emotion to a performance.

No, I wouldn't vote Labour, dear, if you paid me. I vote Conservative.