Creator / Shirley Stelfox

A big fan of dishy vicars.

Shirley Rosemary Stelfox, (11 April 1941 — 7 December 2015), was a British actress best known for playing the first Rose in Keeping Up Appearances and Edna Birch in Emmerdale.

She studied at RADA alongside actors such as Edward Fox and John Thaw, and acted in pantomimes during her years there. After RADA she had a job with The BBC playing a 15-year-old arsonist in the play The Case Before You.

Her first TV role came in a 1964 episode of Coronation Street; Stelfox would return to the Soap Opera as three other characters over the years. Other series she appeared in small roles in included Z Cars, Play for Today, Crossroads, and Grange Hill.

In 1990, she was cast as Rose in Keeping Up Appearances. Stelfox did not return to the role after Series 1 as she was busy starring in Making Out. Over the next ten years, she made appearances in The Bill, Heartbeat, CASUAL+Y, and EastEnders.

Her final on-screen role came in 2000 when she was cast as Edna Birch in Emmerdale. Stelfox played the role for the next fifteen years and racked up over 900 appearances in the show.

She was married to fellow actor Don Henderson from 1979 to his death in 1997.

She died of cancer at the age of 74.

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Works on TV Tropes she appeared in:

Film

• Carry On at Your Convenience (1971) — Bunny Waitress
• Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) — $2 Prostitute

Series

• Coronation Street, 11 episodes:
  • 1 episode (1964) — Norma
  • 2 episodes (1965) — Barmaid
  • 2 episodes (1983) — Margot Sutcliffe
  • 6 episodes (1993-94) — Shirley Henderson
• Z Cars, 3 episodes:
  • 2 episodes^{show list} "Hold Up: Part 1", "Hold Up: Part 2" (1971) — Betty
  • "First Offender" (1978) — Agnes
• Doctor in Charge, episode "The Loftus Papers" (1973) — Miss Rogers
• Play for Today, episode "A Brush with Mr. Porter on the Road to El Dorado" (1981) — Mrs. Smith
• Crossroads, 2 episodes (1981) — Policewoman D. Anson
• Grange Hill, 1 episode (1983) — Secretary
• Bergerac, 2 episodes:
  • "Tug of War" (1984) — Pam Lewis
  • "A Horse of a Different Colour" (1988) — Anna Ackerman
• Brookside, 7 episodes^{show list} "Just Confused", "Double Talk", "Little Messages", "Smooth Operator", "Bone of Contention", "Rumbled", "Shedding" (1987) — Madge Richmond
• Inspector Morse, episode "Last Bus to Woodstock" (1988) — Mrs. Kane
• Keeping Up Appearances, 6 episodes^{show list} "Daddy's Accident", "The New Vicar", "Stately Home", "The Charity Shop", "Daisy's Toyboy", "The Christening" (1990) — Rose Walton
• ScreenPlay, episode "Night Voice" (1990) — Marlene Spate
• The Bill, 4 episodes:
  • "The Girl Can't Help It" (1991) — Mrs. Mitchell
  • "School of Hard Knocks" (1993) — Mrs. Larch
  • "A Quiet Night In" (1995) — Gill Gibson
  • "Lola" (1999) — Mrs. Fowler
• Heartbeat, episode "Fruits of the Earth" (1992) — Mrs. Parkin
• Screen One, episode "Pat and Margaret" (1994) — Vera
• CASUAL+Y, 3 episodes:
  • "Turning Point" (1995) — Vivienne Harding
  • 2 episodes^{show list} "Benny & the Vets: Part One", "Benny & the Vets: Part Two" (1999) — Beth Jenkins
• Coogan's Run, episode "Get Calf" (1995) — Shop Assistant
• EastEnders, 2 episodes^{show list} "New Year's Eve: Part 1", "New Year's Eve 1991: Part 2" (1999) — Jane Healy
• Emmerdale, 917 episodes (2000-15) — Edna Birch

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