Trivia

She was awarded OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to drama. She was the first cast member of Coronation Street to be honored by the Queen.

After her husband's premature death in 1929 she lived in a bungalow in Fleetwood Road, Cleveleys, Blackpool, England with her sister Nellie.

Former pianist for silent movies

'Violet Carson' is the name of a hybrid rose introduced in 1963 and named after the actress. It can be seen in V for Vendetta (2005) although in the film its name is changed to a 'Scarlett Carson', which is not a real flower. It is a yellow-blend Floribunda rose, created by crossing the 'Mme Leon Cuny' with the 'Spartan.'.

Made her name with various BBC Radio programmes from 1935 onwards such as "Children's Hour" and "Have A Go" as a singer, pianist and actress. This said, she would wryly recall an issue of the Radio Times listings magazine where one of her programmes was once credited as "Songs At the Piano - with Violent Carson".

She has been honored by wax statues of Ena Sharples in Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in both London, England and Blackpool, England.

She was cremated at Carleton Crematorium, Blackpool.

She was awarded an honorary degree of Master of Arts from Manchester University in 1973 in Manchester, England.

Daughter of William (1861-1943) and Mary (née Tordoff) Carson (1864-1947).

Portrayed by Lynda Baron in The Road to Coronation Street (2010).

Presented with a Television Special Award 1980/81.

A memorial service dedicated to Carson was held at Manchester Cathedral 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 president Lord Bernstein. Sir Charles Groves conducted the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, including an arrangement of Carson's favourite song, "Cherry Ripe".

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.

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.

Carson is commemorated by a blue plaque outside Granada Studios in Manchester, where she filmed the majority of her work as Ena Sharples.

In 1938, Carson provided piano accompaniment for two songs in an Al Bowlly recording session, which were released on a His Master's Voice 78 with Carson being credited.

She worked with the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts during the Second World War, and was for six years the pianist for the Wilfred Pickles radio show Have A Go.

Carson died of heart failure on Boxing Day 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.

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.

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 label.

As a singer, Carson was in the soprano range and was a regular on the Christian hymnal programme Stars on Sunday during its ten-year run from 1969.

Long after her departure from Coronation Street and after her own death, Carson continues to be synonymous with the hairnet that Ena chose to wear for almost every occasion.

The year after she retired, Carson underwent surgery for an abscess from which she never fully recovered.

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.

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.

Carson lived in a bungalow in Bispham, Blackpool, with her sister Nellie, and refused to make any public appearances after her retirement. The residue of her estate went to her sister, Nellie Kelly.

On 14 February 1968, Carson sailed from Southampton on the Orient Line's liner Oriana, bound for Australia. She arrived in Fremantle on 6 March 1968 and Melbourne 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) at the Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne, where she presented awards to some of the winners that year.

Wax statues of her are held at Madame Tussauds in London and Blackpool, and in 1961 she switched on the Blackpool Illuminations (=annual lights festival, founded in 1879).

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.

In 1962, she was named ITV Personality of the Year for her portrayal of Ena in Coronation Street.