Anna Karen

[cornershop15]

Unfortunately (for some) the nude image has now been removed by Photobucket for breaking their rules.

[HUGHJAMPTON]

name='Stevie Gee']Didn't he get fed up with the plots / story lines getting thinner?

Plots, On The Buses, did they ever have any?

[faginsgirl]

name='Stevie Gee']Didn't he get fed up with the plots / story lines getting thinner?

The storylines got thinner as Arthurs hair did



xx

[cornershop15]

TVTimes interview, 23-29 October 1971

Especially for faginsgirl ...

[

[AndersRobinson]

She was in the film "Beautiful Thing" as the complaining neighbour of Linda Henry. And I seem to remember she had a none speaking role as one of the "girls" in Carry On Camping with her pal Barbara Windsor.

[ShirlGirl]

I think I've only ever seen her as Olive and I'm having trouble recognising her as the galmour girl just as much as the older person she is now.

[faginsgirl]

I think I've only ever seen her as Olive and I'm having trouble recognising her as the galmour girl just as much as the older person she is now.

You can see her in the film `Poor cow`, see post 9. But she just looks like Olive in that too, only with blonde hair

[GRAEME]

On the Buses' Olive Rudge reappeared in the 1970s version of The Rag Trade - thus linking these two Wolfe & Chesney series.

Can anyone remember if she ever specifically mentions Arfur or Stan - or if there is any other continuity between them?

Of course, Reg Varney was a star of the original Rag Trade in the 60s but he was a completely different character in Buses.

[Dean Williams]

On the Buses' Olive Rudge reappeared in the 1970s version of The Rag Trade - thus linking these two Wolfe & Chesney series.

Can anyone remember if she ever specifically mentions Arfur or Stan - or if there is any other continuity between them?

Of course, Reg Varney was a star of the original Rag Trade in the 60s but he was a completely different character in Buses.

There is no mention of any other On The Buses characters of situations in the 70s Rag Trade as as far as I remember the surname Rudge isn't mentioned either. She's just 'Olive' as a stock character. Would have been nice to ahve some proper continuity though. Might have been awkward seeing as how Reg Varney starred in the original b/w Rag Trade as a different character.

[faginsgirl]

There is no mention of any other On The Buses characters of situations in the 70s Rag Trade as as far as I remember the surname Rudge isn't mentioned either. She's just 'Olive' as a stock character.

But surely it is the same character if they have called her Olive? I`m guessing the writers of the Rag trade had a bit more imagination than to call her that if she wasn`t the same character.

[GRAEME]

But surely it is the same character if they have called her Olive? I`m guessing the writers of the Rag trade had a bit more imagination than to call her that if she wasn`t the same character.

She is listed as Olive Rudge on IMDB - anyone know how correct that is?

There was a character in the original 60s Rag Trade called Olive played by another actress. Again, no idea if there was any intention to link these.

[Dean Williams]

She is the same 'character' Olive, not just a case of uninventively using the same name, there is just no linking the fact that it's the same character onscreen. She is always just referred to as Olive on screen as I recall, no mention of the surname Rudge, no mention of Stan (or even ahving a brother), no Mum mentioned (she mentions living with a husband not a Mother), no Blakey or anyone else from On The Buses, no mention of being married to Arthur although she mentions having to get home to cook a meal for 'her old man' in the Rag Trade even though Arthur had left Olive during OTB which suggests either she's married again, got back with Arthur (although the name isn't given) or they weren't in the slightest bit interested in continuity and aligning the character of Olive in The Rag Trade with the one in On The Buses.

[alan french]

Hi,
I recall many years ago, there was an article in a newspaper that brought the shock that Anna had been in striptease and was/been glamourous. But I recall her in ON THE BUSES as Olive. Then when THE RAG TRADE reappeared, this time on commercial television, I was intrigued by Anna acting as a character called Olive. If she did mention her husband, she never, as I recall, quoted his name. My old man; yes. Arthur; no. The audience could have been at liberty to imagine she was the same character or not.

I could be wrong about this, but after Reg Varney left, I think there may have been an effort for a character to palm off Olive with either Reg's friend Jack, or Blakey, who had became the lodger using Stan's room.

The film versions of ON THE BUSES show Olive and Arthur as parents. So I like to think that maybe we had a glimpse of the future, and that Arthur and Stan returned. And Blakey retired to Spain later. But I have a vivid imagination. But I like happy endings.

Alan French.

[cornershop15]

Daily Express, 8th October 1971

I don't know if it's the article you're referring to, Alan, but she mentions being a stripper in the West End:

[harryfielder]

Get yer coat Olive.....you've pulled......lol...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...74846403_n.jpg

[alan french]

Hi,
No it is not the article. But Harry Fielder's picture is up to date. But it is interesting that Anna seems to have two contrasting public images with her entertainment carreer. Like chalk and cheese.

Useless information: I believe that her Aunt Sal character is supposed to live in Hemel Hempstead. I live in Hemel Hempstead. I have never seen her.

What do you mean Aunt Sal from EastEnders is fictitious?

Alan French.

[Dean Williams]

Hi,
Useless information: I believe that her Aunt Sal character is supposed to live in Hemel Hempstead. I live in Hemel Hempstead. I have never seen her.

What do you mean Aunt Sal from EastEnders is fictitious?

Alan French.

I wouldn't be surprised if Hemel Hempstead was fictitious!

[cumberbatches_woman]

what great photos of Anna Karen, i would never in a million years recognise her from the photo Smudge put on here, i absolutely loved her in On The Buses, she held her own beautifully when the likes of Stan and Arther had a little jibe at her, good old Olive !!