Acting

Anna Dawson

Born — Died

1937-07-27 — 2026-06-27

Place of birth

Bolton, Lancashire, United Kingdom

Known for

Acting

Credits

25 titles

Born in Bolton, Lancashire, Dawson spent part of her childhood in Tanganyika, where her father worked. She attended the Elmhurst Ballet School and after training at the Central School of Speech and Drama she learned her craft by playing in repertory theatre companies. Dawson went on to star in several West End musicals. She featured in episodes of Dixon of Dock Green during the 1960s, The Benny Hill Show during the 1980s, and played Hyacinth Bucket's sister Violet ("the one with the Mercedes, sauna and room for a pony") in the final series of the sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, though her character was only featured on screen briefly in four episodes. Dawson was married to former Black and …

Known for

Keeping Up Appearances poster
7.7

A snobbish housewife is determined to climb the social ladder, in spite of her family's working class connections and the constant chagrin of her long suffering husband.

Keeping Up Appearances

1990

Blankety Blank poster
5.2

Blankety Blank is a British comedy game show based on the 1977–1979 Australian game show Blankety Blanks. The British version ran from 18 January 1979 to 12 March 1990 on BBC One, hosted first by Terry Wogan and later by Les Dawson. Regular members of the celebrity panel on this version included Kenny Everett, Lorraine Chase, Gareth Hunt, Gary Davies, and Cheryl Baker. A revival fronted by Lily Savage was produced by the BBC from 26 December 1997 to 28 December 1999, followed by ITV from 7 January 2001 to 10 August 2002. This version was produced by Grundy, then Thames.

Blankety Blank

1979

The Benny Hill Show poster
7.2

The Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show that starred Benny Hill and aired in various incarnations between 15 January 1955 and 30 May 1991 in over 140 countries. The show focused on sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, parody, and double-entendre. Thames Television cancelled production of the show in 1989 due to declining ratings and large production costs at £450,000 per show.

The Benny Hill Show

1969

Benny Hill Show poster
8.5

No synopsis available yet.

Benny Hill Show

1980

The Kenny Everett Video Show poster
7.9

The Kenny Everett Video Show (later renamed The Kenny Everett Video Cassette) was a British television comedy and music programme made by Thames Television for ITV from 3 July 1978 to 21 May 1981.

The Kenny Everett Video Show

1978

Life Begins at Forty poster
6.7

After 17 years of married life, Chris and Katy Bunting are faced with being parents for the first time. The repercussions are only just starting to become apparent.

Life Begins at Forty

1978

Film credits

1980s · 4 titles

1970s · 5 titles

Series credits

Keeping Up Appearances poster
7.7

A snobbish housewife is determined to climb the social ladder, in spite of her family's working class connections and the constant chagrin of her long suffering husband.

Keeping Up Appearances

1990

Blankety Blank poster
5.2

Blankety Blank is a British comedy game show based on the 1977–1979 Australian game show Blankety Blanks. The British version ran from 18 January 1979 to 12 March 1990 on BBC One, hosted first by Terry Wogan and later by Les Dawson. Regular members of the celebrity panel on this version included Kenny Everett, Lorraine Chase, Gareth Hunt, Gary Davies, and Cheryl Baker. A revival fronted by Lily Savage was produced by the BBC from 26 December 1997 to 28 December 1999, followed by ITV from 7 January 2001 to 10 August 2002. This version was produced by Grundy, then Thames.

Blankety Blank

1979

The Benny Hill Show poster
7.2

The Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show that starred Benny Hill and aired in various incarnations between 15 January 1955 and 30 May 1991 in over 140 countries. The show focused on sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, parody, and double-entendre. Thames Television cancelled production of the show in 1989 due to declining ratings and large production costs at £450,000 per show.

The Benny Hill Show

1969

Benny Hill Show poster
8.5

No synopsis available yet.

Benny Hill Show

1980

The Kenny Everett Video Show poster
7.9

The Kenny Everett Video Show (later renamed The Kenny Everett Video Cassette) was a British television comedy and music programme made by Thames Television for ITV from 3 July 1978 to 21 May 1981.

The Kenny Everett Video Show

1978

Life Begins at Forty poster
6.7

After 17 years of married life, Chris and Katy Bunting are faced with being parents for the first time. The repercussions are only just starting to become apparent.

Life Begins at Forty

1978

No artwork available
NR

Comedy and sketches show that capitalised on Larry Grayson's slick style with a set consistent of a large marble staircase using dry ice drifting around the foot of it like a great London fog.

Larry Grayson

1975

No artwork available
NR

Comedy and sketches show that capitalised on Larry Grayson's slick style with a set consistent of a large marble staircase using dry ice drifting around the foot of it like a great London fog.

Larry Grayson

1975

No artwork available
NR

Comedy and sketches show that capitalised on Larry Grayson's slick style with a set consistent of a large marble staircase using dry ice drifting around the foot of it like a great London fog.

Larry Grayson

1975

No artwork available
6.0

George Vance, custodian of an agricultural museum near Aylesbury, receives news that is about to change his life. Much to his surprise, George inherits the Earldom of Ynys Enlli.

The New Statesman

1985

Bad Boyes poster
8.5

Bad Boyes is a 1987 British children's comedy-drama television series produced by the BBC and which was aired on BBC One's afternoon CBBC slot for two series in 1987 and 1988. It was written by Jim Eldridge and starred Steven Kember as the eponymous hero, Brian Arthur Derek Boyes, a mischievous schoolboy who had a tendency to get himself into trouble and consequently had a series of misadventures.

Bad Boyes

1987

No artwork available
5.5

The Steam Video Company was a 1984 comedy series produced by Thames Television for ITV written by Andrew Marshall and David Renwick. The six episode series was a low budget spoof of the horror genre, intermingled with spoofs on contemporary television programmes, such as Nationwide. The programmes starred the same repertory cast of comic actors in a variety of roles. The cast included: William Franklyn, Barry Cryer, Anna Dawson, Bob Todd, Madeline Smith and Jimmy Mulville. The title is thought to be a reference to 'the golden age of steam railways', with the 'steam video' apparently a spoof on the multitude of low-budget horror and exploitation films available during the early days of the British home video boom.

The Steam Video Company

1984

No artwork available
5.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Crowther Collection

1980