Before the Year Dot

'At sixteen I was very interested in palmistry. The fate line on my right palm had a distinct break at the age of thirty. It 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 to me when I am thirty that will change my life?' Of course, it was Johnny's death. But, in fact, my life was changed twice by death.' June Brown, who died in April 2022 aged 95, was an institution - a classically trained actress and showbiz veteran who lived a full and fascinating life. A national treasure, she was much-loved for her role as the chain-smoking Dot Branning in the long-running BBC soap, EastEnders, a character she played with dedication and skill for over 25 years. Before the Year Dot traces her colourful childhood in Ipswich with her beloved sisters, through the war with the WRENS, to her days as a gifted stage actress trained by the likes of Laurence Olivier, Michel Saint-Denis and Glen Byam-Shaw. Her legendary tours of the Young and Old Vic Schools saw her play some of her most memorable parts and cement her acting credentials. In this memoir, June recounts an enthralling early life. But it is also a life marked by two deaths that changed June forever - once when she lost her beloved sister, Marise, and a second time with the loss of her adored husband, Johnny. June Brown tells her story with candour and skill, and in her own words.