Charmian Abrahams obit

Crossroads star who worked with Noël Coward killed in Sainsbury's van crash

The 96-year-old trod the boards with some of the greatest names in British entertainment, also including Albert Finney and Ian McKellen 

She was not on the list.

A former Crossroads star who worked with stage legends including Noël Coward was killed in a crash with a Sainsbury's delivery van. Charmian Abrahams played Mavis Hooper in the long-running ITV soap, set in a Midlands motel and filmed at ATV in Birmingham.

The 96-year-old was fatally injured in a crash in Lordswood Road, Harborne, just before noon on Monday, January 15. The actor - remembered as "still full-of-life and fiercely independent" by her family - was named by West Midlands Police on Friday evening, January 19.

They said in a tribute: "“Charmian was a much-loved aunt and great-aunt and a dear friend to many. At 96 she was still full of life and energy and fiercely independent.

“In her working life she had enjoyed a long career as an actor on stage and screen, performing alongside many great theatrical figures, including Sir Noël Coward, Albert Finney and Sir Ian McKellen. In the early 1980s she became well known for her portrayal of Mavis Hooper in the ATV/Central drama Crossroads.

“We are devastated her life has been brought to an end so suddenly and tragically, but we will treasure our memories of her zest for life and the many good times we shared with her.”

Her theatrical career was said to have spanned 50 years until her retirement in the mid-1990s. In the 1950s she toured with stage companies around Northern Europe and Australia/New Zealand. She was known as Charmian Eyre when she appeared in Crossroads as the wife of garage hand Sid Hooper, but, after four years in the cast, she was among a number of stars axed in the mid-1980s.

She also appeared in Precious Bane (1957), Musical Playhouse (1959) and BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950), according to the IMDB online database.

West Midlands Ambulance Service sent two ambulances, two paramedic officers and a trauma doctor with a critical care paramedic to the scene after Charmian, a pedestrian, was seriously injured in the crash. The van driver remained at the scene.

Filmography

Television and film

Year                 Role            Notes

1950    BBC Sunday Night Theatre             Television programme

1957            Precious Bane              Film

1959    Musical Playhouse                     Film

1981            Crossroads     Mavis Hooper            Long-running soap, recurring role until 1985