Annie Sugden

Annie Sugden

Anne "Annie" Brearly (née Pearson; previously Sugden and Kempinski) is a fictional character in the popular soap opera Emmerdale. She was played by Sheila Mercier as a regular character between 1972 and 1994, making guest appearances in 1995, 1996 and 2009. Annie was one of Emmerdale Farm's original characters, appearing in its first episode on 16 October 1972. She was the soap's "first matriarch", the maternal force behind the Sugden family, who were collectively one of Emmerdale Farm's main focal points.

Sheila Mercier as Annie Sugden and Frazer Hines as Joe Sugden were the only two original cast members to take the show into its 20th year. Though the character left the serial in 1994, she has made occasional appearances since this time and last appeared on-screen in February 2009, in a special tribute episode to mark the death of Clive Hornby who played her on-screen son, Jack Sugden. This episode mirrored the first ever episode of Emmerdale Farm. in that they both featured warring brothers over their father's graveside - one of whom had returned to the village from time spent away.

Sheila Mercier has previously made guest appearances in 1996 and in 2000 for a special web broadcast in which Annie talked to her troubled screen son Jack. The broadcast was available for viewers to download on the official Emmerdale website. Despite having married Amos offscreen in late 1995, she was credited upon her return in 2009 by her most famous name, Annie Sugden. She is the longest serving female character in the shows 40 year history, having appeared constant for 22 years from 1972-1994.

Read more about Annie Sugden:  Character Creation and Development, Storylines, In Other Media, Reception

Famous quotes containing the word annie:

    Annie Laurie
    Gie’d me her promise true;
    Gie’d me her promise true,
    Which ne’er forgot will be;
    And for bonnie Annie Laurie
    I’d lay me doune and dee.
    William Douglas (1672?–1748)