Violet Helen Carson (1 September 1898 – 26 December 1983) was a British actress of radio, stage and television, and a singer and
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...
, who had a long and celebrated career as an actress and performer during the early days of
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...
, and during the last two decades of her life as the matronly Christian widow, town gossip and elderly battle-axe
Ena Sharples in the
ITV television soap opera ''
Coronation Street
''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...
''. She was one of the
original characters from the series debut in 1960 and would feature in the role for twenty years.
Early life and career
Carson was born on German Street in
Ancoats,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
. Her Scottish father, William Brown Carson, ran a flour mill and her mother, Mary Clarke Carson (' Tordoff), was an amateur singer. As a child, she took piano lessons while attending a
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
school and performed with her younger sister Nellie as a singing act called the Carson Sisters. In 1913, she became a cinema pianist providing the
musical accompaniment for silent films.
As silent films fell out of fashion following the arrival of "
talkies", Carson took up singing.
She married road contractor George Peploe on 1 September 1926, her 28th birthday. Peploe died in 1929 at the age of 31.
They had no children and Carson never remarried.
Radio and theatre career
In 1935, Carson joined
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...
in Manchester, singing a range of material from comic musical hall style songs to light operatic
aria
In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...
s. She began in a show called ''Songs at the Piano'' and was a regular member of ''
Children's Hour
''Children's Hour'', initially ''The Children's Hour'', was the BBC's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") which began during the period when radio was the only medium of broadcasting.
''Childre ...
'' on the
BBC Home Service
The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4.
History
1922–1939: Interwar period
Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...
. Carson was also the star of ''Nursery Sing Song'' from Manchester, in which she frequently sang with producer Trevor Hill, many years her junior. Contrary to popular opinion, she was never known as "Auntie Vi", that epithet belonging only to Violet Fraser in the 1920s. "I was never anyone's aunt," Carson exclaimed when Hill produced a BBC Radio programme about her in 1981.
In 1938, Carson provided piano accompaniment for two songs in an
Al Bowlly recording session, which were released on a
His Master's Voice
His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...
78 with Carson being credited. She worked with the
Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, and was for six years the pianist for the
Wilfred Pickles radio show ''
Have A Go''.
Her extensive radio career included a period as a presenter and interviewer on ''
Woman's Hour'' for five years, and she acted in numerous radio dramas. It was while recording a children's programme in 1951 that she first worked with
Tony Warren, who would later become the creator of ''
Coronation Street
''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...
''.
''Coronation Street''
Carson is best remembered for her role as
Ena Sharples, the flint-faced and gruff moral voice of ''
Coronation Street
''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...
'', a role she played from 1960 to 1980. In 1962, she was named ITV Personality of the Year for her portrayal of Ena.
For much of her time on the programme, Ena's moralising caused her to spar regularly with
Elsie Tanner (
Patricia Phoenix). She appeared in the first episode, which aired on 9 December 1960. Long after her departure from the programme and after her own death, Carson continues to be synonymous with the
hairnet that Ena chose to wear for almost every occasion. As a singer, Carson was in the
soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...
range and was a regular on the Christian hymnal programme ''
Stars on Sunday'' during its ten-year run from 1969.
On 14 February 1968, Carson sailed from
Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
on the
Orient Line's liner ''
Oriana'', bound for Australia. She arrived in
Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...
on 6 March 1968 and
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
on 9 March. Thousands of Australians greeted her on the docks. On 22 March 1968, she attended the 10th Annual ''
TV Week Logie Awards'' (named after
John Logie Baird
John Logie Baird (; 13 August 188814 June 1946) was a Scottish inventor, electrical engineer, and innovator who demonstrated the world's first mechanical Mechanical television, television system on 26 January 1926. He went on to invent the fi ...
) at the
Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne, where she presented awards to some of the winners that year.
During the 1970s, Carson suffered from ill health, and only played Ena sporadically from 1972 onwards. She was absent from ''Coronation Street'' for most of 1974 after suffering a stroke.
In April 1980, Carson made what would ultimately be her final appearance on ''Coronation Street''. A storyline involving Ena moving to
Lytham St. Annes to stay with a friend while her flat at the street's community centre was being renovated, was aired. When the character returned, the flat was not ready and Ena announced on screen (to characters
Ken Barlow and
Albert Tatlock) that she would return to her flat — but only if she felt like doing so. It was at this point that Carson became ill with
pernicious anaemia and was forced to leave the programme, although at the time it was anticipated that she would return at some stage. However, this did not happen and all subsequent storylines involving Ena were shelved due to Carson's poor health, although Ena was not written out.
Carson lived in a bungalow in
Bispham,
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
, with her sister Nellie, and refused to make any public appearances after her retirement. The year after she retired, Carson underwent surgery for an abscess from which she never fully recovered.
Recordings
Violet Carson released an EP ''Violet Carson Sings and Plays for You'' on the Columbia label in 1961. She later recorded an album ''Stars on Sunday: Miss Violet Carson'' for the
York
York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
label.
Death
Carson died of heart failure on
Boxing Day
Boxing Day, also called as Offering Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part ...
1983 at the age of 85. She was cremated in a private ceremony at
Carleton Crematorium, Blackpool, on 4 January 1984, and is commemorated at
Bispham Parish Church in Blackpool.
A memorial service dedicated to Carson was held at
Manchester Cathedral
Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Manchester, seat of the Bishop of Manchester and the c ...
on 28 February 1984, the same Cathedral where she was baptised and married. The service was attended by 500 people, as well as many of her ''Coronation Street'' colleagues including
William Roache (
Ken Barlow) and
Granada Television
ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...
president
Lord Bernstein.
Sir Charles Groves conducted the
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, including an arrangement of Carson's favourite song, "
Cherry Ripe".
Carson left £193,190 in her will, with bequests including to the Grand Theatre Trust in Blackpool, the Sharp Street Ragged School in Manchester, for whom she was the former president, and Friends of Manchester Cathedral. The residue of her estate went to her sister, Nellie Kelly.
Honours
Carson was made an Officer of the
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
in 1965 and had a
rose cultivar named after her ('Violet Carson', McGredy 1964). Wax statues of her are held at
Madame Tussauds in London and Blackpool. She switched on the
Blackpool Illuminations in 1961.
Carson is commemorated by a
blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...
outside
Granada Studios in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, where she filmed the majority of her work as
Ena Sharples.
Selected filmography
References
Further reading
*''Over the Airwaves''
hapter 9by Trevor Hill (the Book Guild) (2005)
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, Violet
1898 births
1983 deaths
Actresses from Manchester
English film actresses
20th-century English women pianists
British soap opera actresses
English stage actresses
English television actresses
British radio actresses
British radio personalities
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
People from Ancoats
Actresses from Blackpool
Musicians from Blackpool
20th-century English actresses
20th-century English women singers
20th-century British pianists
British women radio presenters
English people of Scottish descent
20th-century British women pianists
York Records artists