Stephanie Cole, 1941 – 2026

So many great British actresses dying off lately! Penelope Keith, Jean Marsh, Pauline Collins—and now Stephanie Cole, who died on Sept. 18, age 84. It’s shocking that she was only 84, as she went gray and played old early—I remember her best from the wonderful Britcom Waiting for God, in which she played an elderly retirement-home resident, at only 49. Cole got her start in theater (she played Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit, and I bet she was perfect). On TV, she costarred in such series as Emmerdale Farm, Sally Ann, Tenko, Open All Hours, The Return of the Antelope, A Bit of a Do, Keeping Mum, Doc Martin, Coronation Street, and Gentleman Jack. I am delighted to find she was just as acerbic offscreen as on, recently grousing, “Writers and producers today are, in general, out of touch with what people want. The people in charge bugger it up and muck the best writers about. I'm not knocking Downton Abbey – it contains some wonderful acting - but it's anodyne. It doesn't make the viewer ask questions.” Cole was married to stage-fight choreographer Henry Marshall and actor Peter Birrel.