Actress Dame Barbara Windsor, best known for her roles in EastEnders and the Carry On films, has died aged 83.
Her husband Scott Mitchell said she had died peacefully from Alzheimer's at a London care home on Thursday evening.
She had been diagnosed with the disease in 2014 and had moved to a care home earlier this year.
Mr Mitchell said she would be remembered for the "love, fun, friendship and brightness she brought to all our lives".
Dame Barbara appeared in nine of the 31 films in the comedy series Carry On, and also made appearances in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and On the Fiddle with Sean Connery.
She was well-known for her portrayal of landlady Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders, starring alongside her on-screen children Ross Kemp and Steve McFadden.
Her last appearance in the soap came in 2016, the same year she was made a Dame for her services to charity and entertainment.
As well as her performances on screen Dame Barbara was known for treading the boards and appeared in productions including Oh! What A Lovely War and Fings Ain't Wot They Used to Be.
After her dementia diagnosis Dame Barbara became an ambassador for the Alzheimer's Society and met Prime Minister Boris Johnson to raise awareness about the disease.
The star delivered a letter signed by 100,000 people pleading for better care for people affected by dementia and saying the system was "completely inadequate, unfair, unsustainable and in dire need of more money".
Mr Mitchell, who campaigned alongside his wife, said of her death: "It was not the ending that Barbara or anyone else living with this very cruel disease deserve. I will always be immensely proud of Barbara's courage, dignity and generosity dealing with her own illness and still trying to help others by raising awareness for as long as she could."
The couple went public with her diagnosis in 2018 and Mr Mitchell had said they had been "really nervous" about revealing she was affected by the condition.
In his statement he thanked the public, family and friends for their support which he said "Barbara deeply appreciated".
He added: "Myself, her family and friends will remember Barbara with love, a smile and affection for the many years of her love, fun, friendship and brightness she brought to all our lives and the entertainment she gave to so many thousands of others during her career."
Tributes have been paid from across the entertainment world with Danniella Westbrook, who played her on-screen daughter Sam Mitchell in EastEnders, tweeting: "My heart is broken. Bar you will always [be] in my heart forever."
TV presenter Jonathan Ross tweeted: "Barbara Windsor in real life was everything you might have hoped for. So warm, so funny, so kind."
Singer Aled Jones described her as a "true national treasure" while veteran broadcaster Tony Blackburn said she was a "lovely lady who was always such fun".
Like her EastEnders character she was born in east London, in Shoreditch in 1937.
The actress married Mr Mitchell in 2000, with the pair having first met in 1992.
If you, or someone you know, has been affected by dementia you can find more information and support here.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiJGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy91ay01NTI2OTY0OdIBKGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy9hbXAvdWstNTUyNjk2NDk?oc=5
2020-12-11 01:15:00Z
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