Who is Barbara Windsor's husband Scott Mitchell? A look at 20-year marriage after divorce with Stephen Hollings
The 83-year-old actress Dame Barbara Windsor, best known for her roles in 'EastEnders' and the 'Carry On' films, took her last breath on Thursday, December 10. The soap legend had a decade long career and a very controversial personal life. She got married thrice and had a couple of affairs, which she detailed in her book titled 'All of Me: My Extraordinary Life'.
Born Barbara Ann Deeks in Shoreditch, east London, on 6 August 1937, she made her stage debut at the age of 13 and her West End debut at 15. She changed her surname to Windsor in 1953, during the Queen's coronation. In 1954, she played a small part in 'The Belles Of St Trinian's'. In 1964 she made several heads turn when she got nominated for the best British actress BAFTA, for playing the character of Maggie in 'Sparrows Can't Sing'. She appeared in TV shows like, 'Worzel Gummidge', 'One Foot In The Grave' and 'You Rang, M'Lord?'. She made a stellar fan base when she appeared in BBC TV series, 'EastEnders', where she played the character of landlady Peggy Mitchell, she became one of the soap's most-loved characters and a national treasure. She bagged two British Soap Awards, for best actress in 1999, and lifetime achievement in 2009.
Just like her career, she also had a very colorful personal life, as in 1964, when she was 27-years-old she got married to former nightclub tycoon and convicted criminal Ronnie Knight, while she was still married to Knight, she had a much-publicized affair with her 'Carry On' co-star Sid James. Before her marriage with Knight, she had a one night stand with notorious East End gangster Reggie Kray, and an even more longer affair with his twin brother Charles, as mentioned in her book.
In 1985, she divorced Knight and after a year, she married chef and restaurateur Stephen Hollings, whom she divorced in 1995, after finding love with her third husband Scott Mitchell, whom she got married to in 2000.
The couple met in 1992 when she was 55 and he was 28, before tying the knot in 2000 when he was 36 and Windsor was 63-years-old. Mitchell was a former actor and recruitment consultant at that time. In an interview with The Sun, he expressed how people suspected him to be a gold digger when they first got together: “Little did they know that after the breakdown of Barbara’s second marriage, she was £1million in debt and we were talking about her coming to live in my two-bed flat.”
In her book, Windsor has also talked about the five abortions she had, the first three took place in her early 20s and the last one happened when she was 42. She also stated that she never wanted to have children of her own as her father rejected her after her parents divorced when she was a child.
Mitchell who was married to Windsor for 20 years, was present at her bedside for the past seven days before she passed away. He paid tribute to his wife saying how he embraced the final weeks of her life. He said that Barbara's final weeks were "typical of how she lived her life" and "full of humor, drama and a fighting spirit until the end". In a statement following her sad death, Scott said: "Her passing was from Alzheimer's/dementia and Barbara eventually died peacefully and I spent the last seven days by her side. "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. It was not the ending that Barbara or anyone else living with this very cruel disease deserves. 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," he said.
Scott continued: "Thank you to all the Drs, nurses and carers who are angels at the Care Home for your kindness and care to Barbara and I throughout her stay with you. You are my heroes. "And my gratitude to our family, friends and everyone in the media and the general public for all the good wishes and warm support that has been shown to Barbara over the last few years during her illness. Barbara deeply appreciated that," he added.