BBC<\/a> Concert Orchestra, travelling alone on the train to London and back and earning herself 15 guineas \u2013 enough for a gaberdine mac for school, according to her grandmother.Three years later, Jean appeared on Opportunity Knocks with Hughie Green, which led to her going on tour with Eddie Mendoza and his comedy dance band.<\/p>\nThat\u2019s when she met her soon-to-be husband Peter Van Dike, a musician and photographer who played double bass with the band. The young couple fell in love and were married on tour. Their very happy marriage lasted 40 years, until Peter\u2019s death in 1988.Jean was 19 when her first child, Greg was born in 1950, followed soon after by Julie. In those early days the family settled in London where Jean\u2019s singing career blossomed, first with the Eric Winstone Band, when she adopted her stage name June Marlow, and then through the Fifties, both as a solo artist and singer with The Stargazers.<\/p>\n
A hugely busy and successful hit pop act, they made countless radio broadcasts and TV appearances, a Royal Command Performance, as well writing and recording dozens of well-known jingles and songs for commercial TV adverts.<\/p>\n
One of these was the theme for the original 1960 Fry\u2019s Turkish Delight advert featuring Jean\u2019s rich and melodic voice.As a young mother and now successful solo artist she chose not to tour, preferring to stay close to home, her children and husband Peter, who happily settled into the role of househusband before the term was even invented.<\/p>\n
Throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s Jean continued broadcasting and making regular radio and television appearances alongside other top class performers and MDs like Bernard Braden, Steve Race, Ronnie Hazelhurst, Norrie Paramour, Bob Monkhouse, Alma Cogan and Kenneth Connor.<\/p>\n
She was a series regular and leading lady on the biggest music shows of the era and a frequent panellist on popular programmes like Juke Box Jury. She duetted with her favourite British singer and friend Matt Monro.With the entertainment industry changing fast, Jean and Peter made the decision to briefly relocate to the Bahamas to be nearer the USA, but with a second batch of children coming along \u2013 daughter Angie, son Jeff and baby of the family Kate \u2013 they were soon drawn back to Jean\u2019s happy roots in Plymouth, settling on the edge of the city at Tamerton Foliot, where Peter built two family homes.Peter opened the now legendary Van Dike Club in Exmouth Road, hosting numerous artists and bands in the late 1960s and early 1970s who became superstars, including Pink Floyd, Free, T Rex, Genesis, Roxy Music, Status Quo, Cat Stevens and Eric Clapton.Kate said: \u201cAt that time Mum was largely a homemaker. She gave us nothing but stability and tender maternal love. She loved her performing career, but she was also a devoted mother and grandmother.\u201cShe and my dad created quite a dynasty \u2013 five children, 10 grandchildren, eight great grandchildren and counting. She was immensely proud and supportive of us all.\u201dWhen Kate was five, Jean branched into a new acting career, often playing characters with an authentic Westcountry accent \u2013 something she was very particular about. She was even employed as a dialect coach on some productions to make sure the other actors got it right.During the 1980s she sang on BBC Radio 2 on the popular show Acker\u2019s \u2019Alf \u2019Our with Acker Bilk and appeared on The Good Old Days.Viewers have seen her acting over the years in shows such as A Horseman Riding By, Penmarric, Diana, Jamaica Inn, Badgergirl, The Pickwick Papers, Cats Eyes and more recently, MI High with June Whitfield and in several series of the hugely popular Doc Martin.Jean\u2019s last TV appearance was at the age of 87 in a scene with Martin Clunes in the doctor\u2019s surgery.Playing Ethel, who had fallen and put a rusty nail through her hand, with characteristic charm she told her famous co-star: \u201cIf this is my swansong, then I\u2019m more than happy it\u2019s with you, Martin.\u201dFor her final \u201cgig\u201d when she was 90, The Box museum and gallery invited Jean to be the voice of the Elizabethan House on New Street where she was born. Jean\u2019s voice, channelling her own grandmother\u2019s characterful Plymouth tones, will be heard for years to come, welcoming visitors and telling the story of this historic building in its own words.Daughter Kate said: \u201cMum was a one-off in many ways, so vibrant, extremely strong and spirited, bright, interested in people, discerning and true to herself always.<\/p>\n
As a mother she looked after us with so much confidence and joy. She was full of self-respect and self-belief. That carried her through inevitable storms too, and she wanted all her children to take that on in our lives.\u201dAll five of Jean and Peter\u2019s children followed in their parents\u2019 artistic footsteps. Greg, who died in 2007, was a singer\/songwriter, DJ, music promoter and music memorabilia dealer; Julia was a celebrated watercolour artist; Angelina co-founded the Club Fandango music and comedy venue in Plymouth; Jefferson, who died in 2023, was a well-known dance music DJ.Kate, meanwhile, had a career as a comedy actress and co-owns an entertainment production company. A love of music is clearly evident in all their lives and in the generations that have followed.<\/p>\n
‘St Luke\u2019s ensured that this very discerning, successful person was able to do things her own way’<\/p>\n
Kate Van Dike has praised the care provided and coordinated by St Luke\u2019s Hospice Plymouth that allowed her mother, Jean, to spend her final weeks in her own home.<\/p>\n
\u201cSt Luke\u2019s ensured that this very discerning, successful person was able to do things her own way, and they were here to support me and the family too,\u201d said Kate who was Jean\u2019s PA for the last three years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey treated Mum with such tenderness and acknowledged her as the most important person. We could never have cared for her at home without their help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Until late last year, Jean had always enjoyed robust good health. Then she and her daughter Kate noticed things were starting to change. Although she had no serious illnesses, Jean was becoming frailer and in January Kate moved in to be with her around the clock.<\/p>\n
Jean\u2019s dearest wish was to stay in control and in the comfort of her own apartment, but that was becoming harder to maintain. Her GP gently broke the news that Jean was probably in the last year of life.<\/p>\n
\u201cMum\u2019s ever polite, half joking reply was, \u2018There was so much more I wanted to do! But thank you so much for everything you have done for me. I could not have asked for more,\u201d said Kate.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer lovely GP suggested that Mum\u2019s frailty and increasing need for specialist support meant she could refer her to St Luke\u2019s for nursing care at home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lynn Collins, St Luke\u2019s specialist community health care assistant, visited Jean and Kate and explained what the hospice could do to help.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like the cavalry arrived and a weight was lifted,\u201d said Kate.<\/p>\n
\u201cSt Luke\u2019s took over the umbrella of Mum\u2019s care and the network of people who would be there to support us. We knew then that things were going to be as comfortable, dignified and private as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey assess what the family needs and provide an anchor for everything. They offer a wealth of advice and plenty of hugs too. We were held by their reassurance.\u201d<\/p>\n
St Luke\u2019s urgent care team started visiting Jean once a day, then twice as things quickly began to change. They also coordinated support from the district nurses and a bit later, night sitters from a care agency and Marie Curie.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a huge relief when St Luke\u2019s were willing and able to take care of Mum even though she was declining through old age rather than a terminal illness. I do believe that frailty is something that deserves the same care when it\u2019s appropriate. \u201cI cannot express how amazing it is that these women do this day in and day out. I think it is probably one of the most important things you can do at the end of someone\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having that support allowed Kate to concentrate on being Jean\u2019s daughter as well as her fulltime carer. \u201cThey would come in with a smile and help in whatever way they could, and they were very gracious in telling us how well we were doing looking after Mum.<\/p>\n
That meant so much to us as a family,\u201d said Kate. \u201cSt Luke\u2019s empowered me to do my best for Mum by taking some of the pressure off. It was the least I could do after everything she had done for us, with such unconditional love.<\/p>\n
\u201cMum didn\u2019t want to dwell on coming to the end of her life. She kept looking forward and was always pragmatic and driven. And even at the end she was still able to flash her beautiful smile.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jean Dike, aka June Marlow, Plymouth-born singing star and actress has died aged 95. Jackie Butler traces her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,3879,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-472238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-obituaries","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"June](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_JS399352493.jpg\")
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