Late founder of Maidenhead drama school 'lived in a world of pure imagination'

The late founding principal of a drama school in Maidenhead was honoured at the Olivier Awards this week.

A tribute to June Rose, founder of Redroofs School for the Performing Arts, was played during an ‘In Memoriam’ section to remember those in the London theatre community who died in the previous year.

Growing up as a child actor, June was a contemporary of Audrey Hepburn at the Aida Foster Theatre School and an alumnus of the Royal Academy of the Dramatic Arts.

Pictured: June Rose as a young performer. 

She established her school in her parents’ garage in northwest London in 1947, at the age of 17 and purchased the former home of Ivor Novello to open her theatre school in Littlewick Green in 1964.

Based on Bath Road since 1981, June has spent six decades shaping the film, stage and television careers of thousands of future BAFTA and Oscar winners, including Kate Winslet and Joanne Froggatt.

Her daughter, and school co-director, Samantha Keston-Bloom, 59, told the Advertiser, ‘there is no finer place’ to be honoured than the prestigious awards ceremony on Sunday night (April 6).

“Her life was absolutely about the arts, about theatre, about what you can create. She lived in a world of pure imagination,” she added.

“She has her place forever up there amongst the stars.”

June never stepped back from Redroofs, which was ‘literally her life’, and continued to attend dress rehearsals into her nineties.

“Everything she set up and believed in about the school and the family ethos has been consistent,” said Samantha.

“She pulled out the best in people and became a mentor for many of her students across the years.

“The school just grew, and the successes grew with it.

“For what was, at the time, a very small organisation, the success rate was just extraordinary. Kids were travelling from all over the world to come to us.”

Pictured: June Rose with Redroofs School for the Performing Arts alumnus Lucy Benjamin.

June had a ‘wicked wit’, was ‘full of wisdom’ and ‘deeply in love with language’ as she penned poetry, plays and musicals until the end.

She was ‘in love with the performing arts and the people represented within it’ and met her husband, antiques dealer Phillip Keston-Bloom, at his poetry night in London.

The couple had four children, 11 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. June passed away at home, aged 93, in September 2023.

Her daughter and co-director, Carolyn Mayling, said her mother would have been ‘stunned’ by the tribute as she didn’t like to draw attention to herself.

“To see her face up there – alongside people like Maggie Smith and Joan Plowright – these were her idols, so she wouldn’t have believed it,” she added.

“I think that's why the industry said this accolade is for everyone who brings people up through the industry [and] recognises talent, supports it, welcomes it and celebrates it.

“It’s a celebration of what mum stood for within an industry that is so difficult to shape a career in. She did it for all the right reasons.

“It was all about wanting to bring out the best in people – she made people realise they mattered at a time when they doubted it.

“I’m deeply honoured and deeply touched that we were able to share her with so many people and impact so many lives.”