One of the most popular stars of the British entertainment industry, Barbara Windsor mesmerized her audience for sixty long years. Born as Barbara Ann Deeks into a working-class family, she had to work hard to get rid of her cockney accent and won millions of hearts with her performances in numerous films, television and stage productions. A brilliant student, who scored the highest mark in the whole of north London in her 11-plus examination, she dropped out of school at fourteen because her school would not allow her time off to perform. At fifteen, she debuted on stage and inspired by the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II adopted Windsor as her stage name in the following year, gaining national recognition with her performance in Carry on series. She continued to work almost till the end in spite of a progressive Alzheimer's disease.
