Shirley Rosemary Stelfox (11 April 1941 – 7 December 2015) was a British actress, known for her portrayal of the characterEdna Birch, a moralising busybody in theITV soap operaEmmerdale, and asRose, the vampy sister of the snobby and overbearingHyacinth Bucket in the first series of the comedy seriesKeeping Up Appearances.

Shirley Rosemary Stelfox was born on 11 April 1941 inDukinfield,Cheshire. She suffered from bilateralamblyopia, which left her short-sighted. While she was still at Lakes Road Secondary School in Dukinfield she appeared in pantomimes at the Old Chapel in the town, and in other productions.^[1] She then studied at theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where her classmates includedEdward Fox,John Thaw andSarah Miles.^[2]

After theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art Stelfox started on BBC Television inThe Case Before You, a play in which she appeared as a 15 year old arsonist. In December 1960 she appeared in her first episode ofCoronation Street. She later played many different characters in the soap opera, including, in 1983, the owner of a dating agency whose customers include the longrunning character Jack Duckworth (Bill Tarmey).

She played Hyacinth Bucket's sisterRose in the first series ofKeeping Up Appearances, but was replaced byMary Millar.^[3] She appeared in several other well-known television series, including ‘’Emmerdale’’,Wicked Women (1970),^[4]Making Out,Heartbeat,Common as Muck,Juliet Bravo,The Bill,Crossroads,Inspector Morse,Grange Hill andAlbion Market. She appearedBrookside as Madge Richmond (1986–1987), and in 1999 she appeared in two episodes ofEastEnders as Jane Healy.

Among many other one-off parts, she played Alice Hobson inHobson’s Choice (1967), Helen inCivvies (1992), Julie Clegg inThree Seven Eleven (1993–1994), Jean inCommon as Muck (1994) and Mrs Nolan inLucy Sullivan is Getting Married (1999–2000).^[1] She also played the mother ofJulie Walters andVictoria Wood in the TV filmPat and Margaret (1994).

Her best-known film role was as the "$2.00 Prostitute" inNineteen Eighty-Four, a film adaptation ofGeorge Orwell'snovel. She played another prostitute in Terry Jones's comedyPersonal Services (1987).

On the West End stage Stelfox played Sue Lawson inNot Now, Darling (Strand Theatre, 1968) and Phoebe inToad of Toad Hall (Duke of York's Theatre, 1970).^[1] She starred inStand Up Sweetie Pie, directed byJune Brown, which premiered in 1993 at theNottingham Playhouse.^[5] She played Regan inKing Lear at theLudlow Festival in 1972 and at theConnaught Theatre. She also playedLady Macbeth in 1973, Yelena inUncle Vanya in 1974 and Titania inA Midsummer Night's Dream in 1978.^[6]

Stelfox was married to Keith Edmundson for three years. She had a daughter, Helena, from this marriage. She married her fellow actorDon Henderson in 1979 and they were together until his death fromthroat cancer in 1997.^[7] They lived inStratford-upon-Avon, where she helped to bring up Henderson's two children from his first marriage. She moved toNottinghamshire after Henderson's death.

Stelfox died on 7 December 2015, aged 74, four weeks after she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.^[8]

• Shirley Stelfox atIMDb
• Shirley Stelfox at theBritish Film Institute

• 1941 births
• 2015 deaths
• Deaths from ovarian cancer in England
• People from Dukinfield
• 20th-century English actresses
• 21st-century English actresses
• English television actresses
• English soap opera actresses
• English film actresses
• Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
• Actresses from Cheshire
• Actors from Tameside (district)

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