Submissive character originally involved in awful oldie (6)
I believe the answer is:
docile
'submissive' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'character originally involved in awful oldie' is the wordplay.
'originally' suggests taking the first letters.
'involved in' indicates putting letters inside.
'awful' indicates anagramming the letters.
The initial letter of 'character' is 'c'.
'oldie' with letters rearranged gives 'doile'.
'c' placed into 'doile' is 'DOCILE'.
(Other definitions for docile that I've seen before include "'Submissive, easy to control (6)'" , "Willing to obey, not aggressive" , "Willing to obey, compliant" , "Gentle and tractable" , "easy to manage" .)