Early Life and Career
Carson was born in Ancoats, Manchester, Lancashire. Her mother was an amateur singer. As a child, Carson performed with her sister Nellie as a singing act called the Carson Sisters. She then became a cinema pianist providing the musical accompaniment for silent films.
In 1935 Carson joined BBC Radio in Manchester. Before her transfer to television she was a regular member of Children's Hour on the BBC Home Service and was the star of Nursery Sing Song from Manchester, in which she frequently sang with producer Trevor Hill, many years her junior. Contrary to popular opinion she was never known as Auntie Vi, that epithet belonging only to Violet Fraser back in the 1920s. "I was never anyone's aunt" exclaimed Carson when Hill produced a BBC Radio programme about her in 1981. She was at one time the pianist for the Wilfred Pickles radio show Have A Go from the 1940s and she was also a serious actress.
Read more about this topic: Violet Carson
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