Anna Karen

Anna Karen (born Ana Caren Krege on 19 September 1936) is a retired British film, television and theatre actress. A regular in soaps and comedy, her best-known roles are as Olive in the sitcoms On the Buses (1969–1973) and The Rag Trade (1977–1978) and as Aunt Sal in EastEnders (1996–1997, 2001–2004, 2007–2011, 2013–2017) on a recurring basis.

Anna Karen
Born	Ana Caren Krege 19 September 1936 Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1959–2017
Television	On the Buses The Rag Trade EastEnders
Spouse(s)	Terry Duggan (1967–2008) (his death)

Career

Early in her career, Anna Karen worked as a striptease dancer at London's Panama Club. She has appeared in many films and television programmes, including the BBC sitcom Wild, Wild Women, between 1968 and 1969. That same year she played a schoolgirl in the bikini-flying scene in the film Carry On Camping (even though she was 32 years old). In both these roles she acted with her good friend Barbara Windsor (herself a 31-year-old "schoolgirl" in the film).

Karen is best remembered for her role in the LWT sitcom On the Buses (1969–1973). In this series, Karen played Olive, the dowdy bespectacled younger sister of Stan (Reg Varney), and wife of Arthur Rudge (Michael Robbins). She also appeared in the film spin-offs, On the Buses (1971), Mutiny on the Buses (1972), and Holiday on the Buses (1973). From 1977 to 1978, Karen reprised the role of Olive in the LWT revival of the sitcom The Rag Trade created by the same writers.

Her other film credits included roles in The Sandwich Man (1966), Poor Cow (1967), Carry On Loving (1970), What's Up Nurse! (1977) and Flick (2008). In 1996, Karen played a supporting role in the film Beautiful Thing, as a neighbour of the main characters, Ste and Jamie. A year later, Karen reunited with Barbara Windsor, this time in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Karen played Aunt Sal, the sister of Windsor's Peggy Mitchell. Although Karen was never a permanent cast member in the soap, she appeared as Aunt Sal occasionally, usually for only one or two episodes at a time.

In 2006, Anna Karen used her experience as a striptease dancer to act as a judge in the final edition of Channel 4's reality television documentary Faking It. In 2008, Karen was a guest on the Channel 4's Sunday Night Project, again with Barbara Windsor.

Karen has also been a regular in pantomimes over the years, and played the Wicked Stepmother in Cinderella at the Millfield Theatre, in Edmonton, London at Christmas 2008.[1]

Personal life

Karen lives in Ilford, London and was married to actor/comedian Terry Duggan from 1967 until his death in 2008. She taught Drama at Brewers Academy, based in Hornchurch, Greater London.

In January 2016, Karen had a fall at her home in Ilford and was sofa-bound for eight weeks to recover.[2] She still filmed scenes for Peggy's death in EastEnders in March 2016 and again in May 2016, when the scenes were broadcast, she was seen with a walking frame. She was later pictured in a wheelchair filming Peggy's funeral scenes, and now has limited mobility.

Filmography

Film roles

Years	Title	Role	Notes
1961	Nudist Memories	Anne	Uncredited role
1965	He Who Rides a Tiger	Unnamed
1966	The Sandwich Man	Lady with dog
1967	Poor Cow	Neighbour
1969	Lock Up Your Daughters!	Unnamed
	Carry On Camping	School Girl
1970	Carry On Loving	Wife
1971	On The Buses	Olive Rudge
1972	Mutiny on the Buses
	Top Gear	Mrs Redway
1973	Holiday on the Buses	Olive Rudge
1977	What's Up Nurse!	Knitter
1996	Beautiful Thing	Marlene
1998	Cash in Hand	Unnamed
2001	Possessions	Fanny Gapp
2002	Look at Me	Mum
2005	Together Alone	Mrs Golding
2008	Flick	Rita Ray
2016	No Reasons	Yvonne

Television roles

Years	Title	Role	Notes
1968	Life with Cooper	Various	Episode: "In Pictures"
1969	Wild Wild Women	Maude	All 6 episodes
1969–1973	On the Buses	Olive Rudge	All 74 episodes
1970	Dixon of Dock Green	Housewife	Episode: "Waste Land"
1973	The Affair	Willa	Television film
1975	Comedy Premiere: Milk-O	Rita Wilkins	Episode: "Milk-O"
1976	...And Mother Makes Five	Mrs Hitchin	Episode: "None So Blind"
	The Kenneth Williams Show	Unnamed	Episode #2.1
	A Place to Hide		Episode: "The Trick"
	Rainbow	Anna	Episode: "Food: Potatoes"
1977	The Dick Emery Show	Various	Episode #16.8
1977–1978	The Rag Trade	Olive	All 22 episodes
1981	Stainless Steel and the Star Spies	Mary	Television film
1985–1986	Troubles and Strife	Rosita Pearman	All 12 episodes
1986	Roland Rat: The Series	Maureen McConkey	14 episodes
1987	The Sooty Show	Mrs Woodhead	Episode: "Computer Dating"
	Super Gran	Commander S. Obvious	Episode: "Chisleton Street Blues"
1996	Gayle's World	Anna	Episode: "Pilot"
1996–1997, 2001–2004, 2007–2011, 2013–2017	EastEnders	Aunt Sal	Recurring role, 57 episodes
1998	Goodnight Sweetheart	Mrs Hardcore	Episode: "Have You Ever Seen a Dream Walking?"
1999	Boyz Unlimited	Nigel's Mum	Episode #1.5
2002	The Bill	Margie Connell	2 episodes
2004	Revolver	Julie	Episode #1.4
	The Second Quest	Sally	Television film
2005	The Golden Hour	Rita Philips	Episode #1.1
2014	Doctors	Renee Gossman	Episode: "Small Favours"
2016	Nearly New	Joan	TV pilot

References

1. "Christmas pantos" (PDF). Our Enfield. p. 34. Archived from the original (pdf) on 30 December 2008. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
2. Nair, Ajay (28 January 2016). "Ilford actress' broken back agony: EastEnders' Aunt Sal left to sleep on sofa". Ilford Recorder. Archant Community Media Ltd. Retrieved 5 February 2018.

External links

• Anna Karen at IMDb