Anna Keaveney

Anna Keaveney (born Ann Keaveney, 5 October 1949, Runcorn, Cheshire, England – 20 November 2004, aged 55) was an English actress best known for her role as Marie Jackson in the Channel 4 soap opera, Brookside (1982-2003), in which she appeared in over 100 episodes from 1983 to 1985.

Her character in Brookside, an acid-tongued, aspiring middle-class wife and mother from a rough Liverpudlian council estate, is considered one of the series most memorable characters from the early years. Marie was introduced in March 1983 as the interfering, busy-body sister of original character, Petra Taylor. A stand out episode from 1984 featuring Marie saw her brawling in the middle of Brookside Close with neighbour, Sheila Grant, played by Sue Johnston. Both Marie and Sheila had to be pulled apart by their respective husbands, while the upper middle-class Collins family drove through the middle of it all in their brand new Austin Maestro. The scene has since been praised for effectively characterising the class caste of the British suburbs in the 1980s, where Thatcherite home ownership policies significantly changed demographics, so that those on the way up the property ladder can now just as easily find themselves living next door to those on the way down. Marie Jackson and her family represented the "working class" living on the newly built, "posh", Brookside Close.

Keaveney decided to leave Brookside and informed producers of her decision following the acrimonious departure of Cliff Howells, who played her on-screen husband, George Jackson. Her last onscreen appearance was in June 1985 (during episode 276).

Keaveney went on to appear in the comedy series Divided We Stand (1987); an episode of Birds of a Feather (1989-98, BBC) as a Green Party election candidate in 1990; the same year she appeared in another comedy, Stay Lucky (1989-93) and the following year, she appeared with Rick Mayall in The New Statesman.

She appeared in the films Shirley Valentine (1989) as Jeanette - a character similar in style to her earlier role as Marie Jackson - married to Dougie, played by George Costigan; The 51st State, and in several other TV series including Ali G Indahouse, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Emmerdale, The Bill, A Touch of Frost, Footballer's Wives, Within These Walls, and Peak Practice. Keaveney had a small part as Nellie in Mike Leigh's Vera Drake and a further role as Rose Pickering in Where the Heart Is. In 1998 she also played Kitty Dodds in the 24th episode of the seventh series of Heartbeat. In 2004 she made her final film appearance as Mrs. Bain in Asylum which was released in 2005 after she died.