Charmian Blanche Abrahams (22 February 1927 – 15 January 2024), also known professionally as Charmian Eyre, was a British television actress. She was best known for playing Mavis Hooper in the British

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

Crossroads Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to: * Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...

'' on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

. She was born and died in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England.

Life and career

Abrahams was born in Birmingham to a doctor and a nurse. As a child, she attended

Edgbaston High School for Girls Edgbaston High School for Girls is a private day school for girls aged to 18 in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England. History In 1846, Elizabeth Brady founded a school in Edgbaston for the daughters of Quakers in 1846 and this ran for 21 ...

, before moving to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to forge her acting career. Abrahams was best known for playing recurring regular Mavis Hooper in the British TV

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

''. The series drew in large viewing figures of up to 15 million on

from 1964 to 1981. The character was also used alongside Mike Yarwood in his ITV sketch show in 1983 where he played Sid and Mavis as well as several other motel regulars from the soap. Abrahams made her film debut in 1949 and later several television appearances including in ITC's ''Sword of Freedom'', ATV's medical saga '' Emergency Ward 10'', Thames Television's ''Armchair Theatre'' and the BBC's ''Maigret''. She also appeared in other television shows throughout her 50-year career, such as the adaptation of ''

Precious Bane ''Precious Bane'' is a historical romance by Mary Webb, first published in 1924. It won the Prix Femina Vie Heureuse Prize in 1926. Synopsis The story is set in rural Shropshire during the Napoleonic Wars. It is narrated by the central charac ...

'', ''Musical Playhouse'', ITV ''Play Of The Week'', ''Corridors of Blood'' and

BBC Sunday Night Theatre ''Sunday Night Theatre'' was a long-running series of televised live television plays screened by BBC Television from early 1950 until 1959. The productions for the first five years or so of the run were re-staged live the following Thursday, p ...

. She toured with stage companies around Northern Europe and Australia and New Zealand. She retired from acting in the 1990s.

Death

Abrahams died after being hit by a delivery van on 15 January 2024, in

. She was 96 years old. Tributes were paid across social media by family, fans and colleagues.

Filmography

Television and film

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abrahams, Charmian 1927 births 2024 deaths 20th-century British actresses Actresses from Birmingham, West Midlands British film actresses British soap opera actresses British television actresses