Stephanie Cole
Stephanie Cole OBE | |
---|---|
Born | Patricia Stephanie Cole 5 October 1941 , England |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1968–present |
Spouses | |
Children | 1 |
Patricia Stephanie Cole (2011–2013).
She won Best TV Actress at the 1992
Early life
Cole was born in Solihull, Warwickshire, and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School from 1958 to 1960 and went on to consolidate her acting skills in repertory theatres around the United Kingdom. She made her stage debut at the age of seventeen playing the eccentric, elderly medium Madame Arcati in Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit. At the age of 63 she returned to the same role when the play was revived at the West End's Savoy Theatre in 2004.
Career
One of Cole's most recognised and popular roles was of Dr Beatrice (Bea) Mason in the 1980s television series Tenko, a drama which chronicled the lives of British women in Singapore after the Japanese invasion and their consequent confinement in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. The starkly realistic series was explicit in its portrayal of the horrific conditions and brutality faced by the women during their imprisonment, and dealt with issues such as rape, stillbirth, lesbianism, suicide, abortion and euthanasia. Cole played the role of the stern, officious yet kindly doctor over three series and a one-off special between 1981 and 1985.
During this same period, Cole also played the elderly, paranoid and morose customer Mrs Delphine Featherstone, nicknamed "The Black Widow", in the BBC comedy Open All Hours. Mrs Featherstone was the only rival to Nurse Gladys Emmanuel for the affections of shopkeeper Arkwright, played by Ronnie Barker (who had recommended her to play the part after seeing her in Tenko), although she was attracted to him only because she liked his stingy ways. Arkwright was scared of her advances and often hid when he saw her approaching the shop. Cole was actually only in her early forties when she took the role; playing characters much older than she actually was (notably in Waiting for God) became a hallmark of her career. She also appeared in a single episode of Fresh Fields as dog-trainer Mrs Robertson (1986).
In 1988, Cole joined actresses
Cole played bad-tempered retired photojournalist Diana Trent in the
From 2004 to 2009, Cole appeared with
In April 2011, Cole joined the cast of
In August 2013, it was announced that Cole had left Coronation Street, just episodes after her onscreen daughter-in-law had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.[3] It was initially speculated that her sudden departure was due to illness but Cole later confirmed on Twitter that her already pending departure had been brought forward due to her brother's death.[4]
From 2013 to 2019, Cole reprised her role as Delphine Featherstone in Still Open All Hours. She appeared with original actors David Jason, Lynda Baron and Maggie Ollerenshaw.[5]
On Halloween 2018, Stephanie guest starred in the live episode of
In 2019 Cole appeared in the BBC One comedy Scarborough.
Stage
Cole has also performed as a stage actress for more than fifty years. On the West End stage, she has featured in
Radio
Cole has appeared in several radio series. She starred in the
Other
In 1998, Cole's career in comedy was commemorated in the BBC documentary series Funny Women.[7] In the same year, Cole's autobiography A Passionate Life was published. The book's foreword was written by British theatre director Ned Sherrin.
Honours
In 2002, Cole was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from the University of Bristol.[8] In 2005, she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to drama, the elderly and mental health charities.
Cole was voted Solihull's favourite Silhillian in a competition run by Solihull Council in December 2006. She beat Lucy Davis, Martin Johnson and Richard Hammond to pick up the top crown in The S Factor.[9]
Charity work
Cole is an Ambassador for the medical charity Overseas Plastic Surgery Appeal.[10]
Personal life
In 1973, Cole married fight director Henry Marshall, who was one of the founders of the British Academy of Dramatic Combat and was a Master at Arms at the
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1975 | Eskimo Nell | Traffic Warden | Uncredited |
1978 | International Velvet | Teacher | |
1978 | Building Sites Bite | Auntie | |
1979 | That Summer! | Mrs. Mainwaring | |
1999 | Grey Owl | Ada Belaney | |
2008 | Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day | Miss Holt | |
2022 | The House | Great Aunt Eleanor |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1968 | Z-Cars | Sick Woman | Episode: "Should Auld Acquaintance: Part 2" | |
1968 | Armchair Theatre | Betty | Episode: "A Very Fine Line" | |
1969 | Take Three Girls | Continuity Girl | Episode: "Stop Acting" | |
1976 | Bill Brand | Marjorie | Episode: "Anybody's" | |
1976 | Angels | Miss Hombro | Episode: "Facade" | |
1977 | The Velvet Glove | Sybil Thorndike | Episode: "Auntie's Niece" | |
1977 | Just William | Vicar's Wife | Episode: "William and the Prize Pig" | |
1977 | Murder Most English: A Flaxborough Chronicle | Sister Horton | Episode: "Hopjoy Was Here: Part 2" | |
1977 | The Fosters | Receptionist | Episode: "The Family Way" | |
1978 | Emmerdale | Mrs. Bulstrode | 6 episodes | |
1978 | Within These Walls | Kitty Fenner | Episode: "Is There Anyone There?" | |
1978 | Betzi | Mrs. Balcombe | TV film | |
1978 | Lillie | Agnes Langtry | Episode: "America!" | |
1979 | Afternoon Off | Customer | TV film | |
1979 | Agony | Mrs. Manfield | Episode: "An Unmarried Couple" | |
1981–1985 | Tenko | Dr. Beatrice Mason | 30 episodes | |
1982–1985 | Open All Hours | Mrs. Delphine Featherstone | 10 episodes | |
1983 | Terry and June | Mrs. Hunt | Episode: "Pardon My Dust" | |
1986–1988 | Return of the Antelope |
Sarah Mincing | ||
1988 | Talking Heads |
Muriel | Episode: "Soldiering On" | |
1989 | A Bit of a Do | Betty Sillitoe | All 13 episodes | |
1990–1994 | Waiting for God | Diana Trent | All 47 episodes | |
1991 | About Face | Sheila | Episode: "Requiem" | |
1991 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Mrs. Lacey | Episode: "The Theft of the Royal Ruby" | |
1992 | Screen Two | Dame Lettie Colston | Episode: "Memento Mori" | |
1994 | Screen Two | Alice | Episode: "In the Cold Light of Day" | |
1997–1998 | Keeping Mum | Peggy Beare | All 16 episodes | |
2001 | Life As We Know It | Lizzie Cameron | All 7 episodes | |
2001 | Back Home | Lady Beatrice Langley | TV film | |
2003 | Doctors | Doris | Episode: "Gravy on That?" | |
2003 | Born and Bred | Prudence | Episode: "A Very Ormston Christmas" | |
2004–2009 | Doc Martin | Joan Norton | 27 episodes | |
2006 | Housewife, 49 | Mrs Waite | TV film | |
2007 | Midsomer Murders | Dorothy Hutton | Episode: "Death and Dust" | |
2011–2013 | Coronation Street | Sylvia Goodwin |
161 episodes | [12] |
2011 | George and Bernard Shaw | Hyacinth | Episode: "Pilot" | |
2013–2019 | Still Open All Hours | Mrs. Delphine Featherstone | All 41 episodes | |
2013 | The Lady Vanishes | Evelyn Floodporter | TV film | |
2014–2017 | Man Down | Nesta | 18 episodes | |
2016 | Comedy Playhouse | Pearl | Episode: "Broken Biscuits" | |
2018 | Inside No. 9 | Moira O'Keefe | Episode: "Dead Line" | [a] |
2019–2022 | Gentleman Jack | Aunt Ann Walker | 7 episodes | [13] |
2019 | Scarborough | Marion | All 6 episodes | [14] [15] |
2021 | The Cleaner | Vivienne Hosier | Episode: "The Aristocrat" | [16] |
Awards
- 1992 British Comedy Awards – Best TV Comedy Actress for Waiting for God
- 2012 British Soap Awards – Best Comedy Performance for Coronation Street[17]
Notes
- ^ Her apparent on-screen suicide during what was presented as a live TV broadcast caused a flurry of (later reverted) edits to this, her Wikipedia page, while the programme was still on the air, recording the date of her "death".
References
- ^ "Stephanie Cole". BFI. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ "BBC to revamp Hitchcock thriller 'The Lady Vanishes'". BBC News. 17 August 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (2 August 2013). "'Coronation Street': Stephanie Cole leaves Sylvia Goodwin role". Digital Spy. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ^ Brown, David (14 October 2013). "Coronation Street: Stephanie Cole was originally intended to have a large role in Hayley exit plot". Radio Times. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ^ "'Still Open all Hours' Cast". IMDb. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
- ^ "Cabin Pressure". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ^ "Funny Women". IMDb. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ^ "Stephanie Cole Archive". Bristol University. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
- ^ Reynolds, Leda (16 May 2008). "Actress Stephanie Cole returns to hometown of Solihull". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
- ^ "Our Ambassadors — Overseas Plastic Surgery Appeal (OPSA)". Overseas Plastic Surgery Appeal (OPSA).
- ^ "History". British Academy of Dramatic Combat. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008.
- ^ "Stephanie Cole to join Coronation Street cast". BBC News. 17 December 2010. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
- ^ "Gentleman Jack Cast and Characters". BBC Programmes. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
- ^ Scarborough (21 November 2019). "Today we learned the BBC has decided not to recommission Scarborough for a 2nd series. Obviously we are all extremely disappointed but we'd like to thank all our fans for their wonderful support. You can still enjoy Scarborough on @BBCiPlayer for another 10 months. pic.twitter.com/8RhKgvyvq2". @Scarborough_tv. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
- ^ "BBC – Interview with Stephanie Cole – Media Centre". BBC Media Centre. 27 August 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
- ^ "The Aristocrat". BBC iPlayer. 10 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- ^ Taylor, Jim (29 April 2012). "EastEnders wins top prize at British Soap Awards". BBC Newsbeat. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
External links
- Stephanie Cole at IMDb
- "Stephanie Cole". Aveleyman.
- Thomas, Nick (3 October 2016). "Tinseltown Talks: One of Britain's finest: Stephanie Cole". USA Today. Retrieved 4 October 2016.