George A. Cooper

Known for ActingBorn 1925-03-07Died 2018-11-16Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK

George Alphonsus Cooper was born in Leeds in 1925. After training as an electrical engineer and architect he was called up for National Service, working for the Royal Artillery in India. During that period he became interested in performing and on his discharge joined Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in Manchester. To avoid confusion with American actor George Cooper he used his middle initial in his stage name. His first appearance on television was in 1946. Over the next fifty years, he was a regular on the screen developing a career out of portraying slightly bumbling authoritarian characters. In 1964, he won a recurring role in ITV's Coronation Street playing businessman Willie Piggott who famously tried to bribe Ken Barlow to give his son Brian a pass on his tech exam. He had regular roles in Z-Cars and Dixon of Dock Green. In 1960, he appeared in the West End play Billy Liar playing the father of the title character, later reprising the role in the 1973 television series. He appeared in comedies such as Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, Sykes and Mind Your Language. In 1985, he took on the role of no-nonsense caretaker Eric Griffiths in the incredibly successful children's drama Grange Hill, playing the role for seven years and earning a place in the hearts of a generation of children. His last TV appearance was in a 1995 episode of Casualty. He died in a nursing home in Hampshire on 16th November, 2018.Read more

Movies & web series

The First Lady

Espionage

A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story

Awkward Customers

Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done

The Expert

Amy

Mind Your Language

Public Eye

I Can't See My Little Willie

The Ronnie Barker Playhouse

All Creatures Great and Small

Trial by Combat

Steptoe and Son

The Avengers

Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em

A Night to Remember

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

Two's Company

Heartbeat

The Saint

Justice

The New Avengers

Z-Cars

Q.E.D.

Budgie

Danger Man

Man in a Suitcase

Theatre 625

Sergeant Cork

The Light Princess

Violent Playground

The Upchat Connection

BBC2 Play of the Week

Wonder Woman

Dawson's Weekly

ITV Saturday Night Theatre

In Two Minds

ITV Playhouse

King of the River

The Bargee

Nice Work

Shadows

Sherlock Holmes

Grange Hill

Nightmare

Sykes

Fortune Is a Woman