Sara Coward
- February 12, 2017
- 69 years
- breast cancer
About Sara Coward
Sara Coward, 69, British actress (The Archers), breast cancer.
Explore other notable deaths in 2017 or deaths in February 2017.
The Deaths Archive presents
How well do you know Sara Coward?
Explore their life. Test your knowledge. Beat the challenge.
10 questions · One legacy · How much do you really know?
Challenge your friends
Play together in real-time.
Full Biography
|Sara Coward (30 January 1948 – 12 February 2017) was an English actress and writer. She was known for her role as Caroline Sterling in the BBC Radio 4 soap opera The Archers.
Early life and career
Coward was born and raised in Eltham, south-east London and attended the girls' grammar school in the area before reading English and Drama at Bristol University and then studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. While she was performing the role of Lady Macbeth in repertory theatre, Vanessa Whitburn, a producer from The Archers saw her and offered her the role of Caroline Bone, as the character was originally known.
Coward first appeared in The Archers in 1977, and was a regular from 1979 until September 2016. She also appeared in the TV productions Inspector Morse, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates and Rumpole of the Bailey.
Death
Coward was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013. She underwent a mastectomy; however, a lump was found in her neck afterwards and she was further diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2016. During her last weeks, Coward launched a campaign named SM:)E ("smile") to encourage people to be friendly and kind to each other.
Sara Coward died on 12 February 2017 in a Warwickshire hospice, at the age of 69.
Filmography
Content from Wikipedia — licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Interactive
Test Your Knowledge – Trivia Challenge
How well do you know this person's life and legacy?
No account needed to play. Sign in to keep your score on the leaderboard.
Articles & News
- "Sara Coward, star of The Archers, dies at 69"telegraph.co.uk
- "Sara Coward, Caroline in The Archers – obituary"telegraph.co.uk
- "The Archers actor Sara Coward dies at 69"theguardian.com
Reported coverage of Sara Coward; each link opens the original article on the publisher's own site.
Books & Media
Find books, audiobooks and films about Sara Coward on Amazon.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
Sources
- Wikipedia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Coward
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sep 26, 2026
- View article
- Sep 26, 2026
Explore the archive
People who died on February 12
Spotted an error?
Help us keep the archive accurate. Report a correction with a source.
Report an error for Sara Coward →












