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, 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. Death Carson died of heart failure on Boxing Day 1983 at the age of 85. She was cremated at Carleton Crematorium, Blackpool, and is commemorated at Bispham Parish Church in Blackpool. A memorial service dedicated to Carson was held at Manchester Cathedral in January 1984 and was attended by several of her Coronation Street colleagues including William Roache (Ken Barlow). Honours Carson was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire 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 outside Granada Studios in Manchester, where she filmed the majority of her work as Ena Sharples. Selected filmography References Further reading Over the Airwaves [Chapter 9] by Trevor Hill (the Book Guild) (2005) External links 1898 births 1983 deaths Actresses from Manchester English film actresses English women pianists English 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 People from Blackpool 20th-century English actresses 20th-century English women singers 20th-century English singers 20th-century British pianists Children's Hour presenters British women radio presenters English people of Scottish descent Woman's Hour 20th-century women pianists