Coronation Street star Anita Carey dies aged 75 after battling breast cancer

Anita Carey, who starred in Coronation Street and Doctors, has died aged 75 after a battle with breast cancer.

The actress, who played Joyce Smedley on the long-running soap in 1996 and 1997, died last month after a 13-year battle with the disease, reports the Guardian.

Ms Carey, who also played Vivian in Doctors from 2007 to 2009, was diagnosed with cancer in 2010 but continued to work on stage and television in the United States.

Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, in 1946, Carey originally made her name as an actress by appearing in British comedy series such as I Didn’t Know You Cared in the early 1970s.

However, she later decided to take on more dramatic roles and earned acclaim for her performance in The Spoils of War in 1980 and 1981, as well as in the political drama First Among Equals in 1986.

But it was on Coronation Street where she became best known to the British public, playing roles for two decades in a row.

Her first role on the show came as Brenda Summers – a domestic violence victim who befriended Emily Bishop (played by Eileen Derbyshire) in 1978.

Nearly two decades later, she returned as Joyce Smedley – mother of Judy Mallett (played by Gaynor Faye) – in 1996 and 1997.

She was famously killed off the show when she was run over by a car chasing her dog Scamper.

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