Anita Dobson

Anita Dobson (born 29 April 1949) is an English stage, film and television actress, and singer. She is known for her role from 1985 to 1988 as Angie Watts in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. In 1986, she reached number four in the UK Singles Chart with "Anyone Can Fall in Love", a song based on the theme music of EastEnders.

Dobson's other television roles include the 1989 ITV sitcom Split Ends. In 2003, she was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actress for the National Theatre production of Frozen. She has also starred in the West End as Mama Morton in the musical Chicago (2003) and Gertrude in Hamlet (2005), and made her RSC debut in the 2012 revival of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Her film appearances include Darkness Falls (1999) and London Road (2015).

Career

Dobson was born in Stepney, London. She trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Dobson appeared in a few series in the early 1980s, including the Jim Davidson sitcom Up the Elephant and Round the Castle (1983), but she is best known for playing the emotionally battered and alcoholic landlady, Angie Watts, in the BBC1 soap opera, EastEnders, a role which she played from the show's inception in 1985 until 1988.