| Name |
Anna Karen |
| Height |
|
| Naionality |
South African-British |
| Date of Birth |
19-September-1936 |
| Place of Birth |
South Africa |
| Famous for |
Acting |
Anna Karen is a South African- British film, television and theatre actress. Her best known roles are as Olive in the sitcoms On the Buses in 1969 until 1973 and The Rag Trade in 1977 until 1978, and also as Sal Martin in the BBC soap opera EastEnders from 1996 until 2011.
Early in her career, Karen worked as a striptease dancer at London's Panama Club. During her acting career she has starred 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 classic bikini-flying scene in the film Carry On Camping (even though she was 32 years old). In both these roles she acted with 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 (1969–73). In this series, Karen played Olive, the dowdy sister of Stan (Reg Varney), and wife of Arthur (Michael Robbins). She also appeared in the film spin-offs, On the Buses, Mutiny on the Buses, and Holiday on the Buses. 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.
In 1995, Anna 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 popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. Karen played Sal Martin, the sister of Windsor's Peggy Mitchell. Although Karen was never a permanent cast member in the soap, she continued to appear as 'Aunt' Sal Martin occasionally over the years, usually for only one or two episodes at a time.
