George A. Cooper
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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.
Known for
Credits
A Night to Remember (1958)
as Carpathia Purser Hughes (uncredited)
Tom Jones (1963)
as Mr. Fitzpatrick
The Star Chamber (1983)
as State Senator Walden
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968)
as Village Landlord
Fair Game (1994)
as George
The Bargee (1964)
as Official in Office
Okinawa (1952)
as Yeoman
A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story (1978)
as Mr. Twitchell
Hell Is a City (1960)
as Doug Savage
Nightmare (1964)
as John
Start the Revolution Without Me (1970)
as Dr. Duval
The Brain (1962)
as Thomas Gabler
Red Monarch (1983)
as Kaganovitch
Life at the Top (1965)
as Graffham
Violent Playground (1958)
as Chief Inspector
Reunion at Fairborough (1985)
as Bartender
Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done (1975)
as The Pirate King (voice)
Bless This House (1972)
as Mr. Wilson
Smashing Time (1967)
as Irishman
Trial by Combat (1976)
as 2nd Leather Jerkin
The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer (1970)
as Blacket
The Ties That Bind Us (2008)
as Cherub (archive footage)
The Secret Place (1957)
as Harry
Fortune Is a Woman (1957)
as Hotel Porter
Give Us a Break: Hustle Bustle Toil and Muscle (1984)
as Alf
Somewhere More Central (1981)
as Uncle Joe
Customers From Hell (1989)
Actor
The Cracksman (1963)
as Fred
The Light Princess (1978)
as King
The Villa Maroc (1972)
as Lionel
The Strange Affair (1968)
as Supt. Kingsley
In the Doghouse (1962)
as Examiner (Uncredited)
Awkward Customers (1975)
as Awkward Customer: Mr. Wart-hog
In Two Minds (1967)
as Mr. Winter
Miracle in Soho (1957)
as Foreman
Amy (1984)
as Will Johnson
Doctor Who: The Smugglers (1966)
as Cherub
Don't Touch Him, He Might Resent It (1970)
as Mr. Tundish
Mr and Mrs Bureaucrat (1978)
as Man
Ferry Cross the Mersey (1965)
as Mr. Lumsden
I Can't See My Little Willie (1970)
as Frank Palmer
What Became of Jack and Jill? (1972)
as Trouncer
Office Party (1971)
as Manager
The Bouncing Boy (1972)
as Ashcroft
Roll On Four O'Clock (1970)
as Ted Crampton
The Confession (1967)
as Albert Verdoni
Decorators Limited (1976)
as Porter
Lifting Safely (1972)
Actor