Violet Carson OBE (September 1, 1898 - December 26, 1983) was a British actress. She was born at Ancoats in Manchester.

She was most known for her role as the gruff moral voice of Coronation Street, Ena Sharples, a role she played from 1960 to 1980. For much of her twenty years on the programme, Ena's moralizing caused her to spar regularly with Elsie Tanner , played by Patricia Phoenix. Long after her departure from the programme, Violet became synonymous with the hairnet that Ena chose to don for almost every occasion. However, she had previously enjoyed a long career in entertainment, particularly noted as a singer and a pianist, and was in real life very different from Ena.

She was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1965 due to the character's widespread popularity. In the United States, she guest-starred on many sitcoms but did little else, as the character of Ena was a very demanding job.

In the 1970s, Carson suffered a series of strokes and other ailments, and only played Ena sporadically throughout the decade. When she decided to leave the show in 1980, it was widely expected that she would be back after her illness. When it became evident that Carson was too ill to return to work, Ena's influence slowly left the Street, and all storyline turns involving the return of Miss Carson were to be scrapped. She ended up moving to Blackpool with her sister Nellie and refused to make any more public appearances before she died.

External link

Ena Sharples on lovemarks.com