June Brown, who portrayed the iconic chain-smoking laundrette worker Dot Cotton on EastEnders for over three decades, died on April 3, 2022, at the age of 95, according to multiple reports. She was born in Needham Market, Suffolk, in February 1927, one of five children. Her early life was marked by tragedy: her elder sister Marise died at age eight from complications after meningitis, and her younger brother John Peter died from pneumonia 15 days after his birth.
Marise and John Peter are buried together in an Ipswich cemetery. Brown wrote an autobiography titled 'Before The Year Dot' published in 2013. She received an OBE before her death.