Anyone else genuinely saddened by Barbara Windsor death?

[Mally2020]

I just feel a genuine sadness almost like actual grief for her death. I was old enough to see her carry ons at the time or her start on eastenders but having watched all of her stuff over the years it does feel like a loss, I also have a personal connection so I think that's why it affected me more.

Is there anyone in the East End who didn't know the Krays?

And yes - I have an extended family member who says they did.

No because of her comments about poppies. Someone who shames others for not wearing a political symbol and associates themselves with gangsters isn’t someone to admire.

No. She seemed a very nice and well liked person. But I wasn't touched by her death.

I was saddened by the death of Bobby Ball as he was genuinely funny and talented and don't remember any TV tributes to him.

There was a really lovely on one ITV. Sadly, only half an hour (including adverts), but it was presented by Tommy Cannon. You could tell that Tommy wasn't just sad at seeing his former co-star die; he was absolutely genuinely heartbroken at the loss of his dear best friend.
www.itv.com/hub/rock-on-tommy-the-bobby-ball-story/10a0953a0001

I'm in my mid 40s and I still find it hard to comprehend that Sid James died before I was even born (not that I'm a fan).

Watching the clips of some of the old Carry On films now that they're showing in tribute to Barbara and in nostalgia shows and documentaries has made me see them in a new light. I always just accepted what we've been brought up being told by the media - that they were slightly cheeky good-natured harmless fun - but now I'm starting to wonder if that was quite the truth.

They were always compared to 'saucy' seaside postcards; but again, if you look back at a lot of Donald McGill's work, many of them were actually really filthy, nasty, blatantly crass and not merely 'cheeky' at all.

I wonder how much of the Carry On makers 'knowing where to draw the line' actually translated to 'knowing what would get them banned and prosecuted for obscenity and stopping very slightly before' - and just how much further they might have gone had they been able to at that time. Some of it was quite funny, but a lot waded right on there well over the line. That clip of BW wearing the 'bikini' made from three tiny little bits of postage-stamp sized cloth and then telling the doctor that she'd been dressed like that whilst advertising baby food - just so the writer could get a cheap 'bouncing' gag in - was especially grim.

Thanks WeBuiltThis, I'll watch it.

I'm sorry that she had such a traumatic and sad illness, and I acknowledge her contribution to film and theatre and so on. But I can't say I feel sadness as such. I did see her once, about 25 years ago, at some bash - she was being hideously rude and imperious to a couple of people - I just walked away.

It's actually nice to read that she was usually friendly and chatty to people - I obviously saw her at a bad moment.

I felt sadder when she went into a home. Dementia is so cruel

I did see her once, about 25 years ago, at some bash - she was being hideously rude and imperious to a couple of people - I just walked away.

I'd widely heard that too, but I never met her, so am in no position to say how true or not it was.

To be fair, in general terms, when celebrities die, the tributes usually come in from fellow celebs - their status 'equals' who also don't want to jeopardise their own glittering career progression and eventual legacy. I always wonder if the same comments about what a lovely person s/he was would have come in had you asked shop assistants, taxi drivers, cleaners and air cabin crew.

@Mally2020 I'll keep my sympathy for the children of the men tortured, the children of the men murdered, the children of the families traumatised by the vicious antics of the criminal low life she chose to hang round with, giving her that East End glamour. Thanks all the same.

I am sorry for anyone and their families affected by such a cruel disease, but i am irritated by the gushing media ie national treasure, queen of the east end blah blah blah .
I didn't rate her as much of an actress ,feel the same about any soap actor /actress.
Also agree with what others have said about gangster connections .
I still have sympathy the family /friends who loved her .

Yes, im sad.

I think it's best for her as she was very, very ill.

However I think Im sad because she and others (Bobby Ball for example) are links to my childhood, and so in a way i'm mourning the end of my childhood - rather than the individual people who I didnt know... If that makes sense.