Anna Karen dies aged 85

Anna Karen, best known for her roles in EastEnders and On The Buses, has died at the age of 85.

The actress’s passing is noted to have taken place as the result of a fire at her home in Ilford, East London.

According to reports, firefighters were called to a blaze at the property at 10.30pm last night (Tuesday 22nd February).

A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said: “Sadly, a woman has died following a house fire on Windsor Road in Ilford. Part of the ground floor of a mid-terrace house was damaged by fire. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.”

Anna is best known for playing the role of Olive in the sitcom On The Buses as well as Peggy Mitchell’s sister Aunt Sal on BBC soap EastEnders.

Rita Simons, who played Roxy Mitchell in EastEnders, paid tribute on Twitter “I just heard the awful news about the wonderful Anna Karen. Horrific and awful and so so sad. She was one of the best. Sleep well lovely Anna. Sending all my love to her family and friends ❤️”

Singer Cheryl Baker, a friend of Anna’s, wrote on Twitter: “I have just heard the awful news that my fabulous mate, Anna Karen has died in a house fire. What an horrific way to die, I can’t bear to think about it. I adored her – She was an absolute treasure, both on and off the screen.'”

Michael Robbins, Anna Karen and Reg Varney in On The Buses in 1971

The Rag Trade: Anna as Olive and Gillian as Lyn.

On the Buses is probably one of the better remembered comedies of the 1970s thanks to its successful run on ITV and three cinema movies spun-off from the television series.

Created by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney, the series revolved around the antics of bus driver Stan Butler (Reg Varney) and his conductor Jack (Bob Grant) as they tried to date their way through the female clippies of the bus company, avoid as much work as possible and wind up Inspector Blakey (Stephen Lewis).

Anna played Stan’s sister Olive who was often the butt of many jokes. Olive’s husband Arthur (Michael Robbins) was often out of work due to a supposed back injury and much was made of his attempts at avoiding spending time with his long suffering wife.

Rag Trade cast, Christmas 1977. LWT

Anna with Barbara Windsor and Pam St Clement in EastEnders

In 1996, Anna made her first appearance as the recurring character ‘Aunt Sal’ in EastEnders – sister of Peggy (Barbara Windsor). She would go on to make a further 57 appearances as the character through to 2017. Aunt Sal became renowned for her scornful observations of the dysfunctional Mitchell family dynamics.

After On The Buses ended Anna later took the character to another LWT produced series, a revival of former Beeb show, The Rag Trade. Both Anna, as Olive, and future EastEnders star Gillian Taylforth, as Lyn, appeared as clothing factory workers. The cast also appeared in ATV’s 1978 special Golden Gala which marked the 50th Anniversary of the Women’s suffrage movement. Her first major role was alongside Barbara Windsor in the BBC 1969 series Wild, Wild Women. A friendship from that show would last Anna and Babs a lifetime and lead to her gig in Albert Square.

After buses, there were several guest parts including in BBC One soap Doctors, Thames TV’s police series The Bill, TTTV’ Super Gran and BBC sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart. As well as the On The Buses big-screen spin-offs Anna also featured in Carry On Loving and Carry On Camping. In 1996 she featured in the much-praised ‘coming out’ movie Beautiful Thing.

Anna Karen, 1936 – 2022