Anita Carey

Anita Eileen Carey (16 April 1948 – 19 July 2023) was an English actress. She appeared in British television programmes from the 1970s, with her first notable appearances including roles in Beryl's Lot, The History of Mr. Polly and The Spoils of War. She then played Joyce Smedley in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street from 1996 to 1997. After further appearances in various series, she joined the cast of the BBC soap opera Doctors as Vivien March in 2007. She stayed in the role for two years, during which her character was involved in a rape scene that won her the British Soap Award for Best Dramatic Performance in 2009.

Early life
Anita Eileen Carey was born on 16 April 1948, in Halifax, to Sidney Carey, a postal worker, and Louisa Crowther. She was brought up in Brighouse and upon leaving Holmfirth Secondary Modern School at 14, she worked as a typist for a carpet firm. At the same time, she acted with a drama club run by Esme Church at Bradford Civic Playhouse. Aged 19, Carey and her then fiancé, Steve Hodson, successfully auditioned to train at the Central School of Speech and Drama, which she attended from 1967 to 1970.

Career
Carey's first professional role was in a theatre production at the Lyceum Theatre, Crewe. Some of Carey's early roles were in programmes such as Z-Cars, Dixon of Dock Green, I Didn't Know You Cared, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? and Ripping Yarns. In Coronation Street, Carey appeared in the part of Joyce Smedley from 1996 to 1997. In 2006, Carey had a small role as a voice actress playing Venat in the PlayStation 2 game Final Fantasy XII.

Carey then played the role of receptionist Vivien March in the BBC soap opera Doctors from 17 May 2007 to 20 March 2009. After a storyline involving Vivien being raped aired, Carey was awarded the British Soap Award for Best Dramatic Performance at the 2009 British Soap Awards. The story also won Best Storyline, as well as the episode of the rape, "A Kind of Hush", winning Best Single Episode. In 2018, the storyline was once again recognised at the British Soap Awards, being nominated for Greatest Moment. In 2013, she appeared as Gower in Shakespeare's Pericles, Prince of Tyre at Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

Personal life and death
In 1973, while appearing in a stage production in Sheffield, Carey met actor Mark Wing-Davey, a member of the company there. The two began living together the following year. They married in 2002. The pair had two children together. After Wing-Davey took a job in the U.S., they moved there together and she began appearing in American stage productions.

Carey was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010 and died of it on 19 July 2023, aged 75.