EastEnders Stars Sophie Lawrence And Anna Karen Relationship Explored As She Received £400,000 Fortune

Most people are familiar with Sophie Lawrence from her stint on “EastEnders” in the 1980s.

From 1988 until 1991, she played Diana Butcher in the well-known BBC soap opera. She later appeared on the program as a guest in 1993, 1994, 1997, 2008, and 2012.

Sophie has taken a hiatus from acting since her time on “EastEnders.” She is more involved in pantomime and musical theater, though.

Her most famous cover of Donna Summer’s smash song, “Love’s Unkind,” reached the top 30 of the UK singles chart in 1991 and was a major success for her singing career.

The large list of cast members and never-ending storylines of “EastEnders” are well-known, and Sophie and fellow cast member Anna Karen treasured their friendship.

While the late Karen played Aunt Sal, who also had a recurring role from 1997 to 2007, Sophie played Diane.

The two worked together and came from the same neighborhood in London. Despite having a 35-year age difference, they gradually witnessed their connection develop into something close and meaningful.

The Hull Daily Mail attests to the friendship between the two actors throughout Karen’s life. Sadly, a house fire claimed the life of the actress who played Aunt Sal on February 22, 2022.

Following their investigation, the London Police declared that there had been no malicious intent behind the fire.

After Sophie passed away, Anna named a portion of her estate to the latter, preserving their friendship.

Sophie Lawrence Net Worth Is In Millions In 2022 Aided By Anna Karen’s Will

The late “On the Buses” actress Anna Karen left Sophie a sizable fortune, according to Mirror UK.

According to recent news, the amount is £427,197, and the probate papers support this. By receiving such a sizable portion of her close friend’s estate, Sophie has increased her already substantial net worth by a significant amount.

As a working artist, the former EastEnders actress earns large sums from her live appearances. Her more than 20-year acting career earned her millions throughout this time.

EastEnders Actress Sophie Lawrence Has Maintain Privacy Around Her Husband And Family

Anna, a close friend of hers who passed away, was also a wealthy actress because that was not just what she earned when she was living. In addition to Sophie, her stepdaughter Gloria Gill and four other acquaintances each inherited one-eighth of the estate.

The Daily Mail UK verifies that the final 2.5 percent was given to her Benevolent Fund.

Actress Sophie Lawrence from EastEnders must maintain her privacy around her husband and family.

Sophie largely avoids making headlines, save from her expanding playing career in theaters and the current information of Anna Karen’s bequest.

She has dedicated her life to being an artist and stays out of the public eye. Her daily schedule consists of working behind the scenes and getting ready for performances.

So, not much is known about Sophie’s marriage and her husband’s identity among her viewers and the media.

The Lawrence family, who resided in London, gave Sophie their support when she decided to pursue a career as an actor. The actress had originally wanted to become a dancer, but after tearing a muscle in her groin, she was forced to abandon her goal.

She enrolled in the Sylvia Young Theatre School as a result, where she received her first acting part while completing her training. Even though Sophie and her family are now living in solitude, they nevertheless lead normal lives.

Sophie Lawrence Bio

Career

Lawrence began her career with the intention of becoming a dancer; but, after injuring a muscle in her groin, she was forced to abandon her dancing training and pursue a career in acting instead. She received her acting education at the Sylvia Young Theatre School, and it was during this period that she landed her first acting part, which was a recurring one on the British television show Grange Hill.

EastEnders

Following her graduation from theatre school in 1988 at the age of 15, Lawrence was immediately cast in the role of Diane Butcher, the free-spirited daughter of Frank Butcher (Mike Reid), in the long-running British soap serial EastEnders. She continued in that capacity until the year 1991. Lawrence offered his explanation, saying, “I quit because I wanted to play something else.” In order to accomplish this, you have to evolve beyond the public’s conception of you as a character from EastEnders. But I was interested in playing a variety of roles. I had the impression that I couldn’t just keep being Diane indefinitely. I didn’t just want to be a personality; I wanted to be an actor.

In 1993, 1994, and 1997, Lawrence came back for visits of varying lengths. Lawrence left the show just a few weeks after making her homecoming in 1997, and she later reflected on her decision to leave EastEnders by saying, “Going back to EastEnders was like going back to school and none of your friends are there.” I had been there with other people in the past, such as Nick Berry (Simon Wicks) and Letitia Dean (Sharon Watts), but they were no longer there. One of the younger performers, who must go unnamed, brought me a cup of coffee and then began relating to me their experiences while they were working. He was completely unaware of the fact that I had previously worked in the business. [4] It was rumored that the producers of EastEnders wanted Lawrence to remain a part of the cast because they wanted to see an on-screen reunion of the Butcher family. Mike Reid had agreed to resume his role as Frank, but Diane left the show before he was brought back.

Following the off-screen passing of Mike Reid, Lawrence graciously agreed to take on the role of Diane once more in 2008 so that the on-screen funeral of Diane’s father Frank could be filmed. She was willing to come back for another short spell in the year 2012.

Singing

Lawrence decided to pursue a career in pop music after she first stepped down from her role in EastEnders. She had some success on the charts in 1991 when her rendition of Donna Summer’s single from 1977, “Love’s Unkind,” which was produced by Pete Hammond and Nigel Wright for Simon Cowell’s IQ Records, reached No. 21 on the UK Singles Chart. [10] Lawrence collaborated with the highly successful pop songwriters and producers Stock Aitken and Waterman to record a follow-up single entitled “Secrets.” This song is featured on Kylie Minogue’s album Rhythm of Love. However, the single was pulled before it could be made available to the public. Her career as a pop singer reached a plateau, and she decided to pursue acting instead.

The other work

Other notable television appearances for Lawrence include the German TV adaptation of Die Wachter (1985), the TV movie The Little Match Girl (1986) starring Twiggy and Roger Daltrey, Cadfael (1994) with Derek Jacobi, and playing Neil Morrissey’s girlfriend in the BBC sitcom Men Behaving Badly. All of these roles were performed on German television (1995). She also participated in an edition of the game program Banzai, in which the objective was for her to answer a ringing telephone after first evading being tied to a chair and completing the challenge of breaking free from the chair. In addition to her work as an actress, she has also been a host of children’s television programmes, including Going Live and Timmy Towers, both of which she co-hosted with Timmy Mallett.

Lawrence’s theatrical credits include roles as a lead in both Daisy Pulls It Off and the West End rendition of The Rocky Horror Show, in which she played the role of Janet. She has made appearances in a number of traveling plays, the most notable of which was the one-woman performance Talking Heads by Alan Bennett.

In 2001, Lawrence started working with the successful musical Boogie Nights from the 1970s, and she played the primary female character, Debs, on two major tours of the show. In addition, she played a role in the sequel Boogie Nights 2 – This Time It’s the 80s, which co-starred David Essex and went on tour around the country in 2004 and 2005. In addition to that, Lawrence worked on the film Boogie Nights as an assistant director. She has worked as the director and choreographer for a number of musicals and pantomimes.

In December 2006, Lawrence featured as Peter Pan (against Nigel Havers’s Captain Hook) at the Wycombe Swan. The following year, in 2007, he starred as Peter Pan again at the Derngate in Northampton, this time opposing David Essex as Peter Pan. Additionally, she was one of the presenters of the traveling show Simply Ballroom, which she was a part of.