Ann Mitchell born 22 April 1939 is a British stage and television actress She came to prominence in the 1980s when she starred as Dolly Rawlins in the crime series Widows as well as the sequels Widows 2 and Shes Out all written by Lynda La Plante In 2011 she was cast as Cora Cross in the BBC soap opera EastEnders the mother of Tanya Branning and Rainie Cross Mitchell has appeared in many roles in film theatre and television and has played a significant number of major roles such as Mrs Warren in Mrs Warrens Profession and her Laurence Olivier Awardnominated performance in Through the Leaves Description above from the Wikipedia article Ann Mitchell licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia