Tenko and Coronation Street actress Stephanie Cole dies aged 84
---------------------------------------------------------------
Actress Stephanie Cole, known for roles in Tenko, Open All Hours
and Coronation Street, has died aged 84.
A statement from her agent John Grant, issued on behalf of her
family, confirmed the actress had been living with Alzheimer's
for several years.
"Stephanie was an extraordinary talent whose long and
distinguished career included many iconic performances in theatre
and television," the statement read.
"She brought joy to millions through her many much-loved roles in
sitcom and drama. She will also be remembered for her tireless
work supporting mental health charities."
Solihull-born Cole, who trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School,
after making her stage debut at the age of 17 - playing the
90-year-old medium Madame Arcati in Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit.
She went on to enjoy a lengthy career that spanned TV, radio and
film and was perhaps best known for playing Dr Beatrice Mason in
the 1980s BBC wartime TV drama Tenko.
The series chronicled the lives of British women in Singapore
after the Japanese invasion and their consequent confinement in a
Japanese prisoner of war camp.
Cole, in her breakout role, played a doctor who struggled to look
after the women's health, opposite Ann Bell and Claire Oberman.
During this same period, Cole also played the moody customer
Mrs Delphine Featherstone, aka "The Black Widow" in the Ronnie
Barker-starring Open All Hours.
She would go on to win the award for best TV comedy actress for
her part as the sharp-tongued photojournalist Diana Trent in
Waiting For God.
But she cited her earlier performance as Muriel in Alan Bennett's
monologue Soldiering On, as one of her proudest moments. The
series also starred Maggie Smith and Julie Walters.
Her stage highlight, by her account, was in a West End production
of A Passionate Woman.
Cole also played the aunt of Martin Clunes's titular character in
the ITV medical drama Doc Martin.
Her other notable roles included Keeping Mum, and the BBC Radio 4
sitcom Cabin Pressure - alongside a fast-rising Benedict
Cumberbatch - as Carolyn Knapp-Shappey.
"One of the joys of my character was how strong and feisty she is:
she had the upper hand over the men, for the most part," she told
the Guardian in 2018.
"Carolyn told it like it was and took no [rubbish]. We've all met
women like her. She was very easy to put on, and I confess perhaps
there's a little of her bossiness in me."
She also appeared in Coronation Street as Roy Cropper's mother
Sylvia Goodwin, which won her another comedy prize, in her 70s, at
the 2012 British Soap Awards.
Cole reprised her earlier role in the 2010s reboot Still Open All
Hours, opposite David Jason, and also appeared alongside Suranne
Jones in Gentleman Jack.
On Halloween 2018, she also guest starred in the live episode of
Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton's Inside No.9, titled
Dead Line.
The actress's stage work included Driving Miss Daisy, Noises Off
and King Lear.
In 2004, she returned to her debut theatre role in Blithe Spirit
aged 63 when the play was revived at the West End's Savoy Theatre.
She also appeared in Midsomer Murders and Doctors. Her last major
TV role was appearing opposite Greg Davies in his BBC comedy
series The Cleaner in 2021.
Cole was married twice - first to playwright and theatrical fight
director Henry Marshall, whom she divorced in 1988.
A decade later, she married fellow actor Peter Birrel, 30 years
after the pair first appeared together in a production of
Richard II at the Bristol Old Vic.
Birrel died in 2004. Cole is survived by a daughter from her first
marriage, Emma Battcock.
Cole was made an OBE in 2005, for her services to drama, the
elderly and mental health charities.
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckz7zg4ez0peo>
Your Name wrote:
Tenko and Coronation Street actress Stephanie Cole dies aged 84
---------------------------------------------------------------
Actress Stephanie Cole, known for roles in Tenko, Open All Hours
and Coronation Street, has died aged 84.
A statement from her agent John Grant, issued on behalf of her
family, confirmed the actress had been living with Alzheimer's
for several years.
"Stephanie was an extraordinary talent whose long and
distinguished career included many iconic performances in theatre
and television," the statement read.
"She brought joy to millions through her many much-loved roles in
sitcom and drama. She will also be remembered for her tireless
work supporting mental health charities."
Solihull-born Cole, who trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School,
after making her stage debut at the age of 17 - playing the
90-year-old medium Madame Arcati in Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit.
She went on to enjoy a lengthy career that spanned TV, radio and
film and was perhaps best known for playing Dr Beatrice Mason in
the 1980s BBC wartime TV drama Tenko.
The series chronicled the lives of British women in Singapore
after the Japanese invasion and their consequent confinement in a
Japanese prisoner of war camp.
Cole, in her breakout role, played a doctor who struggled to look
after the women's health, opposite Ann Bell and Claire Oberman.
During this same period, Cole also played the moody customer
Mrs Delphine Featherstone, aka "The Black Widow" in the Ronnie
Barker-starring Open All Hours.
She would go on to win the award for best TV comedy actress for
her part as the sharp-tongued photojournalist Diana Trent in
Waiting For God.
But she cited her earlier performance as Muriel in Alan Bennett's
monologue Soldiering On, as one of her proudest moments. The
series also starred Maggie Smith and Julie Walters.
Her stage highlight, by her account, was in a West End production
of A Passionate Woman.
Cole also played the aunt of Martin Clunes's titular character in
the ITV medical drama Doc Martin.
Her other notable roles included Keeping Mum, and the BBC Radio 4
sitcom Cabin Pressure - alongside a fast-rising Benedict
Cumberbatch - as Carolyn Knapp-Shappey.
"One of the joys of my character was how strong and feisty she is:
she had the upper hand over the men, for the most part," she told
the Guardian in 2018.
"Carolyn told it like it was and took no [rubbish]. We've all met
women like her. She was very easy to put on, and I confess perhaps
there's a little of her bossiness in me."
She also appeared in Coronation Street as Roy Cropper's mother
Sylvia Goodwin, which won her another comedy prize, in her 70s, at
the 2012 British Soap Awards.
Cole reprised her earlier role in the 2010s reboot Still Open All
Hours, opposite David Jason, and also appeared alongside Suranne
Jones in Gentleman Jack.
On Halloween 2018, she also guest starred in the live episode of
Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton's Inside No.9, titled
Dead Line.
The actress's stage work included Driving Miss Daisy, Noises Off
and King Lear.
In 2004, she returned to her debut theatre role in Blithe Spirit
aged 63 when the play was revived at the West End's Savoy Theatre.
She also appeared in Midsomer Murders and Doctors. Her last major
TV role was appearing opposite Greg Davies in his BBC comedy
series The Cleaner in 2021.
Cole was married twice - first to playwright and theatrical fight
director Henry Marshall, whom she divorced in 1988.
A decade later, she married fellow actor Peter Birrel, 30 years
after the pair first appeared together in a production of
Richard II at the Bristol Old Vic.
Birrel died in 2004. Cole is survived by a daughter from her first
marriage, Emma Battcock.
Cole was made an OBE in 2005, for her services to drama, the
elderly and mental health charities.
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckz7zg4ez0peo>
Her portrayal of the Diana Trent character was wonderful. I enjoyed
that BritCom (despite disagreeing with the way they ended the series).
I don't remember her from Open All Hours, but I've got the DVDs, so I
might revisit the series as an entertaining way to spend a rainy
afternoon.
RIP Stephanie.
Nyssa, who remembers how a number of female viewers wanted to be Diana
Trent when they grew up...which wouldn't be a bad thing at all
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