George A. Cooper
Actor
Born March 7, 1925 in Leeds, 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.
Filmography
The Ties That Bind Us
Cherub (archive footage)
Fair Game
George
Heartbeat
Walter Pettigrew
Nice Work
Mr. Wilcox Snr
Customers From Hell
Casualty
Albert Collins
Reunion at Fairborough
Bartender
Give Us a Break: Hustle Bustle Toil and Muscle
Alf
Amy
Will Johnson
The Star Chamber
State Senator Walden
Red Monarch
Kaganovitch
Q.E.D.
Lord Eastleigh
Somewhere More Central
Uncle Joe
Terry and June
Mr. Ridge
The Light Princess
King
Grange Hill
Mr. Griffiths
Mr and Mrs Bureaucrat
Man
A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story
Mr. Twitchell
All Creatures Great and Small
Mr. Crump
Mind Your Language
Mr Short
BBC2 Play of the Week
Man
The New Avengers
Burt Brandon
Trial by Combat
2nd Leather Jerkin
Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done
The Pirate King (voice)
Awkward Customers
Awkward Customer: Mr. Wart-hog
Wonder Woman
Gen. Clewes
Two's Company
Mr. Begley
Shadows
Higgs
Dawson's Weekly
Billy Liar
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
The Bouncing Boy
Ashcroft
Crown Court
Sykes
Arthur Coats
Bless This House
Mr. Wilson
What Became of Jack and Jill?
Trouncer
The Villa Maroc
Lionel
Lifting Safely
Justice
Supt. George Grover
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
Inspector Beedel
Office Party
Manager
Budgie
Det. Inspector Shepherd
Roll On Four O'Clock
Ted Crampton
I Can't See My Little Willie
Frank Palmer
The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer
Blacket
Play for Today
Ashcroft
Doomwatch
Thomas Prentice
Start the Revolution Without Me
Dr. Duval
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
Ted Crampton
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave
Village Landlord
The Strange Affair
Supt. Kingsley
The Expert
Arnold Bottomley
The First Lady
Smashing Time
Irishman
Man in a Suitcase
ITV Playhouse
Albert Verdoni
In Two Minds
Mr. Winter
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Mr. Fawcett
Doctor Who: The Smugglers
Cherub
Life at the Top
Graffham
Ferry Cross the Mersey
Mr. Lumsden
Public Eye
The Wednesday Play
Mr. Winter
Sherlock Holmes
Theatre 625
Arkwright
The Bargee
Official in Office
Nightmare
John
Espionage
Leo Winters
Tom Jones
Mr. Fitzpatrick
The Cracksman
Fred
The Saint
Harold Laker
The Brain
Thomas Gabler
Dr. Finlay's Casebook
Tom Farquhar
In the Doghouse
Examiner (Uncredited)
Z-Cars
The Avengers
Burgess
Danger Man
Blatta
An Age of Kings
Earl of Northumberland
Hell Is a City
Doug Savage
No Hiding Place
A Night to Remember
Carpathia Purser Hughes (uncredited)
Violent Playground
Chief Inspector
Miracle in Soho
Foreman
Fortune Is a Woman
Hotel Porter
The Secret Place
Harry
Armchair Theatre
Vincenzo Galassi
Dixon of Dock Green
Topper Brown
Okinawa
Yeoman