Biography

Carol Hawkins (born 31 January 1949 in Barnet, Hertfordshire) is an English actress, best known for her various comic roles in numerous TV sitcoms and films in the 1970s and 1980s.

She played the roles of Sharon Eversleigh in the film of the television series Please Sir! and Sandra in the BBC TV series Porridge, and starred in two Carry On films (Carry On Abroad as Marge and Carry On Behind as Sandra). Hawkins trained early on as a shorthand typist at Pitman's College, London, but, following some modelling and promotion work, attended the Corona Stage Academy in Hammersmith, London. While still training as an actress, she won the part of Sharon Eversleigh in the film of the popular television series Please Sir!, replacing the departed Penny Spencer. Hawkins went on to play the part of Sharon in The Fenn Street Gang.She performed in British comedy films of the 1970s, such as two Carry On films: Carry On Abroad (1972), alongside Sally Geeson, and Carry On Behind (1975), alongside Sherrie Hewson. In 1972, she again appeared alongside Geeson in the film adaptation of the British television comedy, Bless This House.

She appeared in the Carry On Laughing television series, but she declined to appear in the 1976 Carry On England, due to the excessive nudity. (The part written for Hawkins was played instead by Tricia Newby.) Her other film appearances at that time included principal roles in British comedy films Not Now, Comrade and Confessions of a Pop Performer. At the end of 1975, she appeared in the Porridge episode "No Way Out" as a fake doctor assigned to secretly give Fletcher a false passport.Hawkins "more or less retired" in 2005, with the aim of devoting more time to spiritual matters and animal care.