George A. Cooper

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.

Filmography (99 Appearances)

The Ties That Bind Us

Fair Game

Heartbeat

Nice Work

Customers From Hell

Casualty

Reunion at Fairborough

Give Us a Break: Hustle Bustle Toil and Muscle

Amy

The Star Chamber

Red Monarch

Q.E.D.

Somewhere More Central

Terry and June

Turning Year Tales

The Light Princess

The Upchat Connection

Grange Hill

Mr and Mrs Bureaucrat

A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story

All Creatures Great and Small

Mind Your Language

BBC2 Play of the Week

The New Avengers

Trial by Combat

Decorators Limited

Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done

Awkward Customers

Wonder Woman

Two's Company

Shadows

Dawson's Weekly

Billy Liar

Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em

The Bouncing Boy

Crown Court

Sykes

Bless This House

What Became of Jack and Jill?

The Villa Maroc

Lifting Safely

Justice

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

Office Party

Budgie

Roll On Four O'Clock

I Can't See My Little Willie

The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer

Play for Today

Don't Touch Him, He Might Resent It

Doomwatch

Start the Revolution Without Me

ITV Saturday Night Theatre

Dracula Has Risen from the Grave

The Strange Affair

The Expert

The First Lady

The Ronnie Barker Playhouse

Smashing Time

The Confession

Man in a Suitcase

ITV Playhouse

In Two Minds

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Doctor Who: The Smugglers

King of the River

Life at the Top

Ferry Cross the Mersey

Public Eye

The Wednesday Play

Sherlock Holmes

Theatre 625

The Bargee

Nightmare

Espionage

Tom Jones

Sergeant Cork

The Cracksman

The Saint

The Brain

Dr. Finlay's Casebook

In the Doghouse

Steptoe and Son

Z-Cars

The Avengers

Danger Man

An Age of Kings

Hell Is a City

No Hiding Place

A Night to Remember

Violent Playground

Saturday Playhouse

Miracle in Soho

Fortune Is a Woman

The Secret Place

Armchair Theatre

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Dixon of Dock Green

Okinawa

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