Carol Harrison (born 8th February 1955 in West Ham, Essex) is a English actress, director and writer who firstly appeared in EastEnders as the mother of the child that Andy O'Brien rescued which led him to his fatal death in 1986 and then secondly Louise Raymond from May 1998 to April 1999.
Harrison was born into a single-parent working-class family. She failed her 11-plus exams in her youth but later discovered that she has dyslexia. When asked what inspired her to become an actress, Harrison had said that when she was young, she always lived in an imaginary world and told all of her friends at school that her name was Rosemary!
Her first television role came in 1976, in the BBC police drama series, Softly Softly, which was a spin-off of the hugely well-remembered series Z Cars. Afterwards, she landed a role in a film in 1980, The Elephant Man - aside from EastEnders, the role she played in the film some may remember her for it. Before her East End debut, her other credits include London's Burning, Brush Strokes, Get Back, and a Touch of Frost. In 1986, she then landed her first EastEnders role, as the mother of the child who ran into the road to get his ball, not knowing a lorry was approaching, the character Andy O'Brien played by Ross Davidson, saved the child but lost his life in the process.
In her second stint on EastEnders as Louise Raymond and her most famous role to date, Harrison had stated that when she left the BBC soap, she needed therapy to cope with the toll working on the BBC soap on her career. "I had a brilliant career before I went in. But once I left, the variety wasn't there," she told The Sun. "I was worked to death by the BBC."
That didn't stop Harrison from carrying on as she has had roles in Casualty, The Bill, Suspected and Doctors not to mention that she has been confirmed to be appearing in the upcoming drama The Devil's Dandruff.