Shirley Rosemary Stelfox (11 April 1941 â€" 7 December 2015) was an
English actress, known for her portrayal of the character Edna Birch,
moralising busybody in a Yorkshire village in the ITV soap opera
Emmerdale, and as Rose, the vampy sister of the snobby and overbearing
Hyacinth Bucket in the first season of the comedy series Keeping Up
Appearances.Stelfox was born at Dukinfield, Cheshire, on 11 April
1941. She suffered from bilateral amblyopia, which left her
short-sighted. She studied at RADA, where her classmates included
Edward Fox, John Thaw, and Sarah Miles. She was playing in pantomimes
at the Old Chapel, Dukinfield, and in productions during the years of
her study the town's Lakes Road Secondary School.After the Royal
Academy of Dramatic Art Stelfox started straight at the BBC in a play
called The Case Before You in which she played a 15 year old arsonist
- where the prompter did not respond to her long pauses. In December
1960, she appeared in her first episode of Coronation Street. She
would later play many different characters in the world-famous soap
opera, including, in 1983, running a dating agency in which one of her
customers was the entrance cue for Jack Duckworth. In 1983, Stelfox
appeared in an episode of Grange Hill appearing as a Secretary at the
school. She was the first actress to play Hyacinth Bucket's randy
sister Rose in the first series of Keeping Up Appearances, but was
later replaced by Mary Millar. She appeared in several other
well-known television series, including the successful Wicked Women,
Making Out with Margi Clarke, Mrs Parkin in Heartbeat, - and Jean in
Common as Muck, Juliet Bravo, Coronation Street, The Bill and
Crossroads, and Inspector Morse, She played Jane Healy, Melanie Owen's
mother, in an episode of EastEnders. She appeared in the short-lived
series Albion Market. Stelfox had a long life in different soap
operas, briefly appearing in Crossroads (as a police officer), Owen MD
and Family Affairs. She had played in Brookside as Madge Richmond
(1986â€"1987), where she depicted two-timed the widowed pensioner
Ralph Hardwick (Ray Dunbobbin), and in 1999 she appeared in two
episodes of EastEnders as Jane Healy. Among many others of one-off
parts, she played as Alice Hobson in Hobson’s Choice (1967), Helen
in Civvies (1992), Julie Clegg in Three Seven Eleven (1993â€"1994),
Jean in Common as Muck (1994) and Mrs Nolan in Lucy Sullivan Is
Getting Married (1999â€"2000).
English actress, known for her portrayal of the character Edna Birch,
moralising busybody in a Yorkshire village in the ITV soap opera
Emmerdale, and as Rose, the vampy sister of the snobby and overbearing
Hyacinth Bucket in the first season of the comedy series Keeping Up
Appearances.Stelfox was born at Dukinfield, Cheshire, on 11 April
1941. She suffered from bilateral amblyopia, which left her
short-sighted. She studied at RADA, where her classmates included
Edward Fox, John Thaw, and Sarah Miles. She was playing in pantomimes
at the Old Chapel, Dukinfield, and in productions during the years of
her study the town's Lakes Road Secondary School.After the Royal
Academy of Dramatic Art Stelfox started straight at the BBC in a play
called The Case Before You in which she played a 15 year old arsonist
- where the prompter did not respond to her long pauses. In December
1960, she appeared in her first episode of Coronation Street. She
would later play many different characters in the world-famous soap
opera, including, in 1983, running a dating agency in which one of her
customers was the entrance cue for Jack Duckworth. In 1983, Stelfox
appeared in an episode of Grange Hill appearing as a Secretary at the
school. She was the first actress to play Hyacinth Bucket's randy
sister Rose in the first series of Keeping Up Appearances, but was
later replaced by Mary Millar. She appeared in several other
well-known television series, including the successful Wicked Women,
Making Out with Margi Clarke, Mrs Parkin in Heartbeat, - and Jean in
Common as Muck, Juliet Bravo, Coronation Street, The Bill and
Crossroads, and Inspector Morse, She played Jane Healy, Melanie Owen's
mother, in an episode of EastEnders. She appeared in the short-lived
series Albion Market. Stelfox had a long life in different soap
operas, briefly appearing in Crossroads (as a police officer), Owen MD
and Family Affairs. She had played in Brookside as Madge Richmond
(1986â€"1987), where she depicted two-timed the widowed pensioner
Ralph Hardwick (Ray Dunbobbin), and in 1999 she appeared in two
episodes of EastEnders as Jane Healy. Among many others of one-off
parts, she played as Alice Hobson in Hobson’s Choice (1967), Helen
in Civvies (1992), Julie Clegg in Three Seven Eleven (1993â€"1994),
Jean in Common as Muck (1994) and Mrs Nolan in Lucy Sullivan Is
Getting Married (1999â€"2000).
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