Terry & June star Rosemary Frankau dies at 84

Peep Show writer Sam Bain has paid tribute to his mother, the actress Rosemary Frankau, after she died aged 84.

Frankau, who is best known for playing Beattie in the BBC sitcom Terry and June, died of emphysema two days after her 84th birthday last month.

In an obituary in The Guardian, Bain recalls how his mother was evacuated during the blitz to the Kent countryside, saying: ‘Despite the doodlebugs overhead, this was the happiest period of her childhood as friends of the family provided a true hearth and home.’

Frankau later graduated from Rada and spent many years in rep.

Her screen appearances included roles in Yes Minister, 2point4 Children and Ken Loach’s film Ladybird Ladybird as well as  24 episodes of Terry and June appearing as June’s friend Beattie.

 An active Lib Dem, she was a founder member of their humanist and secularist group, and Bain writes that she will be ‘remembered with enormous affection for her feisty intelligence, warmth, enthusiasm and great sense of humour’.

Bain previously compiled this tribute to his mother’s work:

Published: 9 May 2017