Ann Keaveney (5 October 1949–20 November 2004) was an Englishactress best known for her role as Marie Jackson in theChannel 4soap operaBrookside, in which she appeared in over 100 episodes from 1983 to 1985.

Keaveney's character inBrookside, Marie Jackson was an acid-tongued, aspiring middle-class wife and mother from a rough Liverpudlian council estate, and is considered one of the most memorable characters from the early years of the series. Marie was first introduced in February 1983 as the interfering and strong-willed sister of original character,Petra Taylor. One of the only characters ever to be seen regularlysmoking inBrookside, Marie was fiercely protective of her family, and was characterised as feisty and confrontational. Following Petra's disappearance and suicide, Marie and her family move into Brookside Close in July 1983.

A stand out episode from January 1984 featuring Marie saw her brawling in the middle of Brookside Close with neighbour,Sheila Grant, played bySue Johnston. Both Marie and Sheila had to be pulled apart by their respective husbands, while the upper middle-class Collins family drove through the middle of it all in their brand new AustinMaestro. The scene has since been praised for effectively characterising the class caste of the British suburbs in the 1980s, whereThatcherite home ownership policies significantly changed demographics, so that those on the way up theproperty ladder can now just as easily find themselves living next door to those on the way down. Marie and the Jackson family represented the "working class" living on the newly built, "posher", Brookside Close.

Writers then involved the Jackson family in a long-running social injustice storyline during mid to late 1984, which saw Marie's husband, George, played by Cliff Howells, wrongly convicted of armed robbery. Keaveney decided to leaveBrookside and informed producers of her decision following the acrimonious departure ofCliff Howells. She informed producers in October 1984 - six months before the end of her current contract.^[1][2] Ian Brandes fromThe Sunday People reported thatPhil Redmond originally tried to convince Howells and Keaveney to remain inBrookside for at least another year because of their popularity, but this proved unachievable due to the dispute with producers.^[3][4] Her last onscreen appearance as a regular was in April 1985, where viewers saw Marie and the twins move to Leeds to be closer to George's prison. She returned in June 1985 one last time (during episodes 275 and 276), to facilitate the departure of her sister, Michelle Jones (Tracey Jay).

Keaveney went on to appear in the comedy seriesDivided We Stand (1987); an episode ofBirds of a Feather (1989–98, BBC) as aGreen Party election candidate in 1990; the same year she appeared in another comedy,Stay Lucky (1989–93) and the following year, she appeared withRik Mayall inThe New Statesman.

She appeared in the filmsShirley Valentine (1989) as Jeanette - a character similar in style to her earlier role as Marie Jackson - married to Dougie, played byGeorge Costigan;The 51st State, and in several otherTV series includingAli G Indahouse,Gimme Gimme Gimme,Emmerdale,The Bill,A Touch of Frost,Footballer's Wives,Within These Walls, andPeak Practice. Keaveney had a small part as Nellie inMike Leigh'sVera Drake and a further role as Rose Pickering inWhere the Heart Is. In 1998 she also played Kitty Dodds in the 24th episode of the seventh series ofHeartbeat. In 2004 she made her finalfilm appearance as Mrs. Bain inAsylum which was released in 2005 after she died.

She died oflung cancer in 2004, aged 55.^[5]

• Anna Keaveney atIMDb

• 1949 births
• 2004 deaths
• English soap opera actresses
• English film actresses
• Deaths from lung cancer in England
• People from Runcorn
• Actresses from Cheshire
• 20th-century English actresses
• 21st-century English actresses
• 20th-century English businesspeople
• Actors from the Borough of Halton

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from January 2026
• Place of death missing