The Press Stories
She may have been 4 feet 11 by 24 feet waist and 1 foot in size, but the fighting spirit might have been a match for Dame Barbara Windsor Mike Tyson.
Eight years after it was first discovered, that spark and determination lasted until the lastAlzheimer’s, She finally died in a North London nursing home, holding the hand of her dedicated husband Scott Mitchell.
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She was dead in the room he had specially decorated so it would be familiar to her.
In addition to ‘Mommy and Daddy”s family photos and her wedding to Scott, there were posters of her stage plays Sparrow Conte Singh and Entertaining Mr. Sloane, his photography, performance on the Royal Origin of Silla Black, and, of course, his proudest moment, The Queen Received Damhoot.
Born in 1937, Barbara Deeks – The death of ‘Pops’ may have been the final curtain on a showbiz’s career spanning more than six decades, but yesterday’s release on social media proves that he’s earned the status of ‘national treasure’ to live on in our hearts and minds for years to come.
It would be a comfort to know that Scott, who first met ‘Look’ 27 years ago, understood the special relationship he shared with the British public.
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Scott is a rock of his unshakable love
“Scott is my rock,” she wanted to tell me. In fact he was. Without her unwavering love and protection, her final years would have been very different.
On the day of the discovery in 2012, she leaned over him, shook his hand, and said; “I’m so sorry,” she said, knowing she was coming, and the burden of her care would fall on him.
Not only did he face the challenge, he struggled as hard as possible to establish ‘normalcy’ for Barbara, he accepted the all-important feeling of ‘living with Alzheimer’s’ and ‘not suffering’ from it.
At first, they kept it a secret from family and close friends – from them – myself – because Scott, who knew how much he loved acting, wanted to work as hard as he could without anyone knowing what was going on around Barbara. In the corner.
But in May 2018, through an interview with me in The Sun, they made the difficult decision to go public.
“It’s getting so hard for us to hide,” Scott told me at the time.
“She wants to go out, and it’s good for her – she’s alive. Of course, the public is naturally very impressed with her, and I do not want to stop it. I’m still scared she’s going. “
In October 2019, we took Barbara to see the premiere of Les Misபிள்rables at the London Palladium, and I first saw how perfect this result was.
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At intervals, she needed Lou and the line was already 100 strong. But the waiting women pushed us ahead with a wave of Mexican love and a clear understanding of Barbara’s condition.
When she came out of the cubicle, they created a system called ‘Team Barbara’ – one washes hands and the other dries with a piece of paper, while the others help out. It was an incredible touch. On the way back to our seats, she stopped chatting with everyone and wandered towards those who were further away.
For Scott, it was Barbara’s vision of these moments that made him go through difficult times.
The last time I saw her was this February – just before the epidemic paid for my regular face-to-face visits. We sat in the living room of her and Scott Mews’ house in Marylebone, London, and looked at old photos from the stunning Showbiz life, which is much more than the characters of her most famous Gary Ann and EastEnders.
She knows the names of every actor I point out; Many of them have long been forgotten by other parts of the world, but are still remembered by a woman like Oxygen who performed on stage and on screen. Five more minutes later, a shadow of confusion would pass over her face, and she would apologize, “I’m so sorry, what are we talking about? In my mind this thing is wrong. . . ”
For a woman who prides herself on her professionalism and ability to memorize scripts, this is a particularly horrible blow.
But of all the times we spent together, I never saw or heard of self-pity.
“I’m one of the lucky ones,” he would say. “My beautiful Scott is with me.”
It was so hard for her 20-year-old husband that he was slowly losing his wife, with whom he shared so many happy memories.
Old Barbara’s trademark still flashes with quick brilliance, but there are many heartbreaking moments when she forgets who Scott is and believes she still lives in her childhood home.
He was determined to keep her at home as much as he could, but the infection seemed to accelerate her aging symptoms without being able to get out.
Husband’s emotional roller coaster
Also, in the spring of this year, Barbara’s neurologist advised that a residential home needs full-time, professional care.
The operation finally took place in August, and when I came around to see the now 58-year-old Scott, shortly afterwards, at their mews home, I found a broken man.
“I think I’m on an emotional roller coaster. I try to be busy, but suddenly burst into tears. It feels like a death,” he told me. “It’s still so green. I think we’re like two little munchkins in our little house.” I always said … now there’s only one Munchkin. “
From then on, he and Barbara would have tea in the garden of the care home or, if she had a bad day and could not go out, he would talk to her in the faade.
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Last weekend, his health deteriorated and he went to his room so they could be together when the results finally came. Ironically, when they first met, the 25-year-old gap led some scoundrels to label Scott a ‘gold digger’, only after he had Barbara’s money. How wrong they were.
As for the starters, he had more money than he had when they got together, but that aside, he has undoubtedly proved that his love for her is real and that the spirit of their vow is, ‘We will part until death’.
In the end, I truly hope that this kind and wonderful man will find the strength to continue his life and be happy. Barbara would have liked it, she was not worthy.
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