George Cole

Infobox Celebrity
name = George Cole

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caption =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1925|4|22|mf=y
birth_place = Tooting, South London, England
death_date =
death_place =
occupation = Actor
salary =
networth =
spouse = Eileen Moore (1954–1962)
Penny Morrell (1964-)
children = Tara
Toby
website =
footnotes =

George Edward Cole OBE (born April 22, 1925 in Tooting, London, England) is an English actor.

In an interview included in the 2007 DVD release of A Christmas Carol he recounts that he was given up for adoption at the age of ten days, and adopted by Mr. and Mrs. George Cole. He grew up with a strong cockney accent that hindered his early performing career.

He began appearing in films in the early 1940s, debuting in the 1941 film "Cottage to Let". He attributes his career to the great British stage and film actor Alastair Sim, who became his mentor. Cole appeared in a total of 11 films with Sim, starting with "Cottage to Let", and ending with the somewhat obscure 1961 independent film "The Anatomist". He also acted opposite Sir Laurence Olivier in "The Demi-Paradise" (1943) and Olivier's film version of "Henry V" (1944), but his career was interrupted by his service in the Royal Air Force from 1944 to 1947.

He became familiar to audiences in British comedy films in the 1950s. Cole appeared with Sim in "Scrooge" (as the young Scrooge) in 1951, but his best known film role was as "Flash Harry" in the "St Trinian's" films (two of which also star Sim).

Cole later became a respected television actor. During the 1960s and 1970s, he played numerous character parts on British television, usually as a disturbed and/or pathetic villain or victim. The TV series he appeared in included "Gideon's Way" ('The Firebug', 1965), "Out of the Unknown" ('The Last Lonely Man', 1969) and "Menace" ('Killing Time', 1970).

His most memorable TV role was as crooked used car dealer "Arthur Daley" in the TV series "Minder" (1979-94). The character became synonymous with the down-at-heel side of 80s capitalism (along with Del Trotter of "Only Fools and Horses"). Cole played a similar character in late 1980s / early 1990s TV advertisements for the Leeds Permanent Building Society who was "Laughing all the way to The Leeds".

In 1995/6 he starred as businessman - councillor Freddie Patterson in "An Independent Man". He also starred as Brian Hook in the BBC Comedy "Dad" in the late 1990s alongside Kevin McNally, who played his son, Alan Hook. He played Henry Root in the TV series "Root Into Europe".

He is able to hide his London accent when playing upper-class characters, such as Sir Giles Lynchwood in the TV adaptation of Tom Sharpe's novel "Blott on the Landscape". Recently he was announced to play the leading role in Kevin Tate's "The Story of Carl Veart", a new 6 part ITV Series. Cole recently appeared in the BBC drama "A Class Apart", in which he played a grandfather who encourages his impoverished daughter keep her son on the straight and narrow by means of a public school bursary (part of the Winter/Spring 2007 season [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/12_december/07/bbcone_drama.shtml#class] ), and "The Dinner Party", broadcast in September 2007.

He was married first to Eileen Moore, an actress and subsequently to Penny Morrell, in 1964, with whom he has two children.

Partial filmography

*"Cottage to Let" (1941)
*"Those Kids from Town" (1942)
*"The Demi-Paradise" (1943)
*"Henry V" (1944)
*"Journey Together" (1946)
*"My Brother's Keeper" (1948)
*"Quartet" (1948)
*"The Spider and the Fly" (1949)
*"The Happiest Days of Your Life" (1950)
*"Gone to Earth" (1950)
*"Morning Departure" (1950)
*"Laughter in Paradise" (1951)
*"Flesh & Blood" (1951)
*"Lady Godiva Rides Again" (1951)
*"Scrooge" (1951)
*"The Happy Family" (1952)
*"The Wild Heart" (1952)
*"Who Goes There!" (1952)
*"Top Secret" (1952)
*"Folly to Be Wise" (1953)
*"Our Girl Friday" (1953)
*"Will any Gentlemen...? (1953)
*"The Intruder (1953)
*"The Clue of the Missing Ape" (1953)
*"The Belles of St Trinian's" (1954)
*"An Inspector Calls" (1954)
*"Happy Ever After" (1954)
*"Where There's a Will" (1955)
*"A Prize of Gold" (1955)
*"The Constant Husband" (1955)
*"The Adventures of Quentin Durward" (1955)
*"The Green Man" (1956)
*"Blue Murder at St Trinian's" (1957)
*"The Weapon" (1957)
*"Too Many Crooks" (1959)
*"The Bridal Path" (1959)
*"Don't Panic Chaps" (1959)
*"The Pure Hell of St Trinian's" (1960)
*"The Anatomist" (1961)
*"Cleopatra" (1963)
*"One Way Pendulum" (1964)
*"The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery" (1966)
*"The Green Shoes" (1968)
*"The Vampire Lovers" (1970)
*"Fright" (1971)
*"Take Me High" (1973)
*"Gone in 60 Seconds" (1974)
* The Blue Bird (1976)
*"Deadline Auto Theft" (1983)
*"Minder on the Orient Express" (1985) (TV)
*"The End of Innocence" (1990)
*"Mary Reilly" (1996)
*"The Ghost of Greville Lodge" (2000)

External links

*
* [http://www.britmovie.co.uk/actors/c/009.html www.britmovie.co.uk - George Cole]
* [http://valdefierro.com/dad.html Various 'Dad' links on valdefierro.com]
* [http://lifeincartoons.blogspot.com/2006/05/dad-dad-dad-dad-dad-dad-dad-dad-dad.html Article about 'Dad' on 'Life in Cartoons']
* [http://www.silksoundbooks.com/performerresults/performerdetail.aspx?id=164 George Cole reads Charles Dickens]