Shirley Carter

Shirley Carter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Linda Henry. She first appeared on 7 December 2006, during episodes set in Dorset. This is Henry's second role in ''EastEnders'', as she previously played prostitute Lorraine Salter (1991–1992). Shirley was presented upon her arrival as the mother of established characters Deano (Matt Di Angelo) and Carly Wicks (Kellie Shirley). Henry took a break from the show on 7 September 2012, before returning on 3 December 2012. On 29 December 2022, Henry made an unannounced exit from the show. Although it was initially teased that the character would be returning to the show, in 2025, it was confirmed that there were no plans for Henry to return. Shirley is also one of several EastEnders characters to appear in the internet spin-off series EastEnders: E20.

Shirley's early stories included her attempts to rebuild relationships with her children Carly (Kellie Shirley) and Deano, later Dean (Matt Di Angelo), her friendship with Heather Trott (Cheryl Fergison) and a volatile relationship with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), which ends when Phil covers up his son Ben's (Joshua Pascoe) murder of Heather. In 2013 Shirley's extended family were introduced, led by her brother Mick (Danny Dyer), who was later revealed to be her son. Shirley's loyalties are conflicted when Dean raped Mick's wife, Linda (Kellie Bright), and she also faced a custody battle with Shabnam Masood (Rakhee Thakrar) over her and Dean's daughter, Jade Green (Amaya Edward).