Annie Smith

Infobox EastEnders character 2


character_name=Annie Smith
actor_name=Zara Posener (1985-1986)
Samantha Crown (1986-1988)
creator=Tony Holland and Julia Smith
years=1985-1988
first=5 March 1985


caption2=Zara Posener as the original Annie.
last=26 May 1988
dob=c.1984
mother=Mary Smith
grandfathers=Chris Smith
grandmothers=Edie Smith
uncles=Brendan Smith
Gary Smith
aunts=Bridey Smith

Annie Smith was a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera "EastEnders". She was originally played by Zara Posener from 1985 to 1986, but was played by Samantha Crown from 1986 to 1988.

History

Annie was the young daughter of punk Mary Smith. Her father was a member of a punk group of which Mary was a groupie, and had no contact with her. Annie arrived, along with Mary, on 5 March 1985 and initially resided with her mother at 23b Albert Square.

Mary was an incredibly irresponsible mother and Annie was always getting lumbered on her neighbours when Mary grew tired of looking after her. Dot Cotton and Sue Osman were the usual victims, but almost everyone on the Square had a turn at looking after Annie at one stage.

Sue Osman, in particular, grew extremely fond of Annie following the tragic death of her son Hassan. After bottling up her grief for months, she was forced to hold little Annie, which allowed her, finally, to acknowledge her pent-up sadness.

Annie was once left alone in the launderette accidentally, while Mary went drinking in The Queen Vic. Debbie Wilkins discovered her, returned her to her mother and had a few choice words for Mary. Mary also had a tendency to leave Annie home alone whilst she went out to prostitute herself at night. On one such occasion, Annie threw her blanket at the electric fan heater, causing a fire. Luckily, Arthur Fowler managed to break in and rescue her, but as a result, Annie was taken away from Mary and was put in the custody of her grandparents, Chris and Edie Smith, who lived in Stockport.

With the help of Rod Norman and Carmel Jackson, Mary was eventually reunited with Annie, although it took a lot of persuading to get her back from Edie, who felt that Mary was not capable of caring for a young child.

Annie spent Christmas Day 1987 in hospital after her intoxicated grandfather, Chris, abducted her, tried to drive her home to Stockport and then crashed into a wall. Luckily, Annie was unharmed.

Eventually, Mary decided to leave Albert Square with Annie. They both departed in May 1988 and have not been seen since.