Quotes

"I can get quite embarrassed seeing some of the things on television. I don't know whether things have to be quite as explicit as they are nowadays. Carry On films were much more innocent." (2000)

"I don't think I've ever had anybody say the words, 'Will you marry me?', not even someone tight as a tick at a party." (2000)

"To be a comic woman, you have to put up with quite a bit of banter. But I didn't mind. I've got a dirty sense of humour and I never found those things really offensive." (2000)

"I'm a workaholic, really, so it's hard when I'm not working. I'm not a great reader, so I do watch a lot of telly. I've actually become the most frightful cabbage potato." (2000)

"I was always being ticked off for making the class laugh, usually by mimicking the teacher." (2000)

[In reference to Carry on Cowboy (1965) and to her character Belle Armitage and Belle's appearance on the hotel saloon's stairs during the film] I think it was one of my favourite scenes in any of the "Carry On..." films. I was really living out a lot of fantasies during that scene, because it was a gorgeous dress, I liked the way my hair was done and then I encounter Sid, playing Rumpo, and I get to say that 'my name is Belle - but my intimate friends call me Ding Dong'. Really subtle lines like that! (1998)

[In reference to Sidney James and his death in 1976] "Sid was a darling man and that's the only way I can describe him. He was always very kind to the ladies and he was always very protective about the ladies. He was a very very sad loss." (1998)

[In reference to the Dinner Party scene in Carry On... Up the Khyber (1968)] "It was three horrendous days, there were people dropping sacks of muck from the ceiling. It was a nightmare but it was still terrific fun." (1998)

[Speaking in 1998 about her appearance in Carry on England (1976)] There was certainly a decline in yours truly, that [bloated] face, which was coming out of that [bloated] uniform, I mean it was horrific. I thought go home and put your feet up love.

[In reference to Sidney James and 1990s documentaries on his life and apparent affairs and behaviour] "I think it's quite unnecessary. Why can't the poor man and his family be left alone? He gave the public a great deal of enjoyment."

[on the "Carry On..." films being repeated on television] "I do have deep feelings of injustice for myself and the others. The public might think we are paid residuals, but we get nothing for the films or those television compilations." (2000)

"Men are put off by funny women." (2000)

I had not expected to end up on my own in a small rented flat". [After 50 years in show business and in reference to her flat in Kensington]

I don't think it worked without us, dear. We were a unique formula. [on the film Carry on Columbus (1992)]

"I was always being ticked off for making my class laugh, usually by mimicking the teacher." (2000)

"I used to be very extravagant. Once, because I was appearing on The Kenneth Williams Show (1970) I went to Harvey Nicks and bought two outfits for £600 - which was a fortune in those days - and then took myself to the Hyde Park Hotel for tea." (2000)

"A new Carry On is a big event in the cinema nowadays, it is not surprising that we all want to be on our toes when we get Peter Rogers call to make another one." (1961)

I was once mistaken for Shirley MacLaine in a fish-and-chip shop off the Edgware Road.

[on making the "Carry On..." films] "It was like going back to school each time."