Anita Dobson

**Anita Dobson** (born 29th April 1949 in Stepney, London) is a British actress and singer who is most famous for her portrayal as Angie Watts in *EastEnders* from the show's inception in February 1985 to May 1988 and she also known for reaching number four in the UK Singles Chart with "Anyone Can Fall in Love", a song that was created in rhythm with the *EastEnders* theme tune.

Anita's father was a dress cutter, and most of her clothes were made at home by her mother, who worked with the deaf. It was from her parents that Anita believed she inherited her passion for clothes. She went to dancing school when she was very young, which included singing and tap dancing, and later she joined an amateur drama group when she realised her Grammar School offered very little in the drama department.

After leaving school, she worked in a variety of jobs, her first being with the Prudential Assurance and later as a juvenile coat model for the buying department at C & A. Finally she re-joined her amateur drama group, Toynbee Hall, and eventually got a grant to study at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. Her extensive theatre career started at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, with directors Giles Havergal and Steven Dartnell, and she first appeared in musicals at the Palace Theatre, Watford with director Philip Hedley. She transferred to the West End in one of his shows, a rock 'n' roll musical by Ken Lee, *Leave Him To Heaven*, which was also recorded for BBC TV. Her West End debut before that was in *Ardele* with Vincent Price and Coral Browne.

Anita has worked with children in BBC TV's *Playaway* and *Chopsticks*, and also in pantomime: her first as the Girl Babe in *Babes In The Wood* and later as principal boy in *Aladdin* at the Lyric, Hammersmith and *Dick Whittington* at the Shaw Theatre, and Jack in *Jack and the Beanstalk*.

Television appearances include Dorothy, the maid, in the first of the BBC TV *Nanny* series, tap dancing with Roy Castle in *All-Star Record Breakers*, Granada's *Take The Stage* series and LWT's *Partners in Crime*. She also played Jim Davidson's girlfriend, Lois, in the first series of *Up The Elephant and Round The Castle* for Thames TV. She played Kitty in the Lyric, Hammersmith's production of *Charley's Aunt* with Griff Rhys Jones, and transferred with it to the Aldwych for an eight-month season.

Before making her East End debut, Anita toured Italy as Magenta in *The Rocky Horror Show*. She also completed a tour for Oxford Playhouse, doing Shakespeare and Brecht, and spent her spare time scouring the shops and antique markets for the '40s, '50s and '60s clothes. She has also done radio work for BBC Schools Radio.

Anita wasn't the first actress to be cast in the role of Angie. The first actress was Ilford born Jean Fennell, and the actress had already begun filming when the production team decided that her performances were not the original ideas the creators had imagined and therefore the actress was axed, and Anita was casted in the role instead. Anita became one of the most prominent actors in *EastEnders* throughout the 1980s and such, so she was responsible for singing the lyric adaption song of the *EastEnders* theme tune, "Anyone Can Fall in Love" which was written by the *EastEnders* theme tune creator Simon May and produce by Queen guitarist Brian May, who later became Anita's husband. Anita has also tried pursuing the achievement of "Anyone Can Fall in Love" which reached number four in the UK Singles Chart by releasing several other singles and albums but all of which have had minor chart success.

Since leaving *EastEnders*, the BBC bosses have attempted on numerous occasions to lure the actress back. However, all have been unsuccessful as Anita turned down every offer and therefore the bosses accepted their losses, and her character was killed off-screen in 2002. Her television credits after leaving the show include the BBC's sitcoms of *Red Dwarf*, *Rab C. Nesbitt* and her own sitcom series *Split Ends* in 1989. Other credits include *Dangerfield*, *Ghosts*, *Sunburn*, *Hotel Babylon*, *The Last Detective* and the film *Sweet Revenge*.

In 2011, Anita was one of the contests in *Strictly Come Dancing* and was partnered with Latin specialist Robin Windsor. The pair were eliminated in Week 9 after Robin was unable to dance for a week due to an injury. Anita has also won several awards in her professional career including the Pye Award for Outstanding Female Personality for her portrayal of Angie as well as being nominated for the 2003 Laurence Oliver Award for Best Actress for her performance in Frozen at the Royal National Theatre. She was also made a Companion of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts as well as a patron of the theatre charity the Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America.