Shirley Rosemary Stelfox was a British actress, known for her portrayal of the character Edna Birch, a moralising busybody in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale, and as Rose, the vampy sister of the snobby and overbearing Hyacinth Bucket in the first series of the comedy series Keeping Up Appearances.
13 Facts About Shirley Stelfox
1.
2.
Shirley Stelfox suffered from bilateral amblyopia, which left her short-sighted.
3.
Shirley Stelfox then studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where her classmates included Edward Fox, John Thaw and Sarah Miles.
4.
Shirley Stelfox 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.
5.
Shirley Stelfox played Hyacinth Bucket's sister Rose in the first series of Keeping Up Appearances, but was replaced by Mary Millar.
6.
Shirley Stelfox appeared Brookside as Madge Richmond, and in 1999 she appeared in two episodes of EastEnders as Jane Healy.
7.
Shirley Stelfox played the mother of Julie Walters and Victoria Wood in the TV film Pat and Margaret.
8.
Shirley Stelfox played another prostitute in Terry Jones's comedy Personal Services.
9.
Shirley Stelfox starred in Stand Up Sweetie Pie, directed by June Brown, which premiered in 1993 at the Nottingham Playhouse.
10.
Shirley Stelfox played Regan in King Lear at the Ludlow Festival in 1972 and at the Connaught Theatre.
11.
Shirley Stelfox played Lady Macbeth in 1973, Yelena in Uncle Vanya in 1974 and Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1978.
12.
Shirley Stelfox married her fellow actor Don Henderson in 1979 and they were together until his death from throat cancer in 1997.
13.
Shirley Stelfox died on 7 December 2015, aged 74, four weeks after she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.