Mary Smith (EastEnders)
| Mary Smith | |
|---|---|
| EastEnders character | |
Annie Smith | |
| Aunts | Maureen |
Mary Smith, also known as Mary the Punk, is a fictional character from the
Storylines
1985–1988
Mary arrives in Walford in March 1985 when she is housed in
Mary is an incredibly irresponsible mother and almost everyone on the Square has a turn at looking after Annie at one time or another. Most take pity on Mary and are willing to help her out, which she regularly uses to her advantage. Mary makes an unlikely friendship with local busybody,
In February 1986, nurse Andy O'Brien (Ross Davidson) tries to help Mary by teaching her to read. However, Mary falls in love with him so she stops stripping and drops her punk image to impress him. Andy is forced to reject her advances, and an angst-ridden Mary spitefully informs him that she will not be attending any more of his reading lessons. The following day her punk image is back. However, without her stripping job, she is now penniless again. Nick Cotton (John Altman), seeing her in a desperate state, tries to coax her into becoming a prostitute. Mary declines, but her desperation for money makes her question whether it would be such a bad idea after all. Luckily, Andy manages to put a stop to this by getting her a job working in a hospital canteen.
Mary later has a relationship with the married
Despite this, Mary refuses to stop prostituting herself, even when the healthcare worker,
In 1987, Mary begins a relationship with
In 1988, Mary and Rod begin to go through some problems, which eventually lead to them splitting up. Mary begins to behave erratically again, regularly taking drugs and begging around the Square for money to fund her habit. She begins to neglect Annie again and even dumps her on Sue while she disappears for a week without informing anyone she is going. She becomes an unwitting pawn in Simon Wicks's (Nick Berry) game to bed as many women as possible and is later hurt when he cruelly rejects her. Her father tries desperately to help her regain control of her life, giving her a job as receptionist at his new haulage company. However, upon the arrival of her mother, Edie, Mary decides she is sick of her family's interference, and after vandalising her father's business with paint, she takes Annie, jumps on a bus and leaves Walford, sticking up two fingers in the air as she goes.
2019, 2022
Over thirty years later, Mary and Annie (now played by Marilyn O'Brien) return for the funeral of
Creation and development
Mary Smith was one of the original twenty-three characters invented by the creators of EastEnders,
- "Aged 19. Mary was brought up in Catholics...Her father is a long-distance lorry driver....When she left school Mary could hardly read or write, she didn't learn because she didn't want to...She gave no trouble, no aggro, but no-one took any notice of her...Her mother nagged her about her soul...At 15 she went to a gig with a crowd of people from school and in one night her life changed...She fell in love with a band, a man and a culture. She had found her own religion...She became pregnant...Semi-literate, unskilled and at the same time ashamed...She couldn't go back to the oppressive society of her childhood, where everybody judged everybody and where she would be labelled, even by her own mother, as a 'loose woman'...She wouldn't have an abortion...She drifted into our area, and became one of the single parent families that congregate there...Will she be a survivor, or a loser?...Over the months she may develop a fear of authority...Maybe she will be forced to drift into a life of prostitution..." (page 56).[1]
As Holland and Smith wanted a diverse cross-section from the East End community, it was decided that one of the main cast had to be a young, single mother, and as punk music was prominent in British culture at the time, they decided to use a punk image for the character.[1] Holland and Smith decided to cast an unknown actress in the role. They chose Linda Davidson, who was the right age and had been brought up in northern England and therefore had an accent that would befit the character's background.[1] However, actress Jenna Russell revealed in 2016 that the part was originally offered to her, saying, "I was asked to play Mary Smith in the show right in the beginning when it started in 1985, but I was very young and it wasn't the right fit for me then".[2]
Mary was one of the most striking of the original characters: a lone mother with a small baby, who hid herself under punk makeup, was unable to read or write and was a northerner alone in a southern city.[3]
One of the most controversial storylines the character was involved in was her dalliance with prostitution in 1987, although it did earn the programme a considerable amount of negative press at the time and was accused of promoting a negative association between single mothers and prostitution.[1] The character of Mary lasted in the show for three years, and was eventually written out of the series when Linda Davidson decided to leave in order pursue other acting roles. On-screen, Mary leaves Walford the way she arrives, running away from her parents.
Mary and Lofty's return was confirmed by the BBC on 18 December.
Reception
In 2020, Sara Wallis and Ian Hyland from The Daily Mirror placed Mary 82nd on their ranked list of the best EastEnders characters of all time, commenting that the name "Mary the Punk" did "suit" the character. [5]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-563-20601-9.
- ^ Brown, David (27 December 2016). "Find out which EastEnders role new Michelle Fowler actress Jenna Russell was ORIGINALLY meant to play!". Radio Times. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-563-37057-4.
- ^ Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
- ^ Sara Wallis; Ian Hyland (12 June 2020). "100 Best EastEnders characters ever". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 20 October 2023.