June Whitfield starred with Terry Scott in the BBC sitcom Terry and June for eight years

Dame June Whitfield, the television star who delighted audiences for generations, has died at the age of 93.

The comic actress, celebrated for her roles in the BBC sitcoms Terry and June and Absolutely Fabulous, and in the Carry On films, passed away peacefully on Friday night, her agent said yesterday.

Whitfield appeared in more than 1,300 radio and TV shows in her 70-year career. To viewers of a younger generation, she was best known for playing the mother of Jennifer Saunders’s PR guru Edina Monsoon in Ab Fab.

Playing Edina’s mother in Absolutely Fabulous alongside Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders COLIN HUTTON/BBC

Saunders paid tribute to her former colleague today, saying: “It’s so tremendously sad to lose June. I will always be grateful that she agreed to be in Ab Fab and even more grateful that she