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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
July 7, 1911
Died
July 11, 2005
Place of Birth
Covent Garden, London, England, UK
Gretchen Franklin
0.2 Popularity
Biography
Born in Covent Garden, West London in 1911, Gretchen Franklin was an English actress and dancer whose showbusiness career spanned over 70 years. She was best known for her role as Ethel Skinner in the long-running BBC 1 soap opera EastEnders. She appeared in the very first episode in 1985 and was a regular in the series until 1988. After this she returned to the show intermittently until 2000 when her character was killed off, allowing Franklin to retire from acting at the age of 89. Born into a theatrical family (her father had a song and dance act, her grandfather was a famous music hall entertainer at the turn of the century and her cousin was Dad's Army star Clive Dunn) Gretchen Franklin made her theatre debut as a teenage chorus girl. She toured with comedians such as Gracie Fields before making the switch to serious acting. Her film appearances included Cloak Without Dagger (1956), Flame in the Streets (1961), The Murder Game (1965), Help! (1965), How I Won The War (1967), Twisted Nerve (1968), The Night Visitor (1971), The Three Musketeers (1973), Quincy's Quest (1979), and Ragtime (1981), among others. She is namechecked in The Fall's 1990 song Telephone Thing.
Known For
Credits
Keeping Up Appearances
as Daddy's Fiance
1990
7.7
EastEnders
1985
4.1
EastEnders
as Ethel Skinner
1985
4.1
Return to Waterloo
as Woman on Train
1984
6.7
Blackadder
as Cordelia
1983
8.0
🎬
Dead Ernest
1982
0.0
Ragtime
as Elderly Woman
1981
7.0
Terry and June
as Cath
1979
6.2
Quatermass
as Edna
1979
6.6
Danger UXB
as Mrs. Flack
1979
8.0
The One and Only Phyllis Dixey
as Phyllis's Dresser
1978
0.0
Hazell
as Pearl
1978
4.8
Nicholas Nickleby
as Miss Knag
1977
5.5
George and Mildred
as Mother
1976
6.8
I Didn't Know You Cared
as Auntie Lil
1975
7.0
The Sweeney
as Florence, the Charlady
1975
7.8
Churchill's People
as Mrs Baxter
1974
1.0
The Four Musketeers
as D'Artagnan's Mother (archive footage) (uncredited)
1974
6.4
Rising Damp
as Aunt Maud
1974
7.5
The Three Musketeers
as D’Artagnan’s Mother
1973
6.7
🎬
Black and Blue
as Mrs. Pitt
1973
6.0
Secrets
as Mrs. Pitt
1973
6.0
Bowler
as Mrs Bowler
1973
6.0
🎬
Bowler
1973
5.0
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
1973
7.6
The Protectors
as Nelly Baxter
1972
5.8
Sykes
as Bookstall Assistant
1972
6.4
Budgie
as Carrie Wetherall
1971
7.0
The Night Visitor
as Mrs. Hansen
1971
6.3
🎬
The Company Man
as Tea Lady
1970
0.0
🎬
Castle Haven
1969
0.0
Twisted Nerve
as Clarkie
1968
6.8
Subterfuge
as Bus Conductress
1968
4.7
How I Won the War
as 2nd Old Lady
1967
5.5
The Murder Game
as Landlady
1965
0.0
🎬
A Slight Case Of...
1965
6.0
Help!
as Neighbour
1965
6.8
Londoners
as Mrs. Hincastle
1965
0.0
🎬
The Man Who Came to Die
as Mrs. Marriott
1965
0.0
Gideon's Way
as Martha Bray
1965
6.8
🎬
Story Parade
as Mrs. Huxtable
1964
8.0
The Silent Playground
as Mrs. Elgin
1963
4.7
The Scales of Justice
as Rose Jenkins
1962
6.7
Z-Cars
1962
7.0
The Trouble with Our Ivy
as Mrs. Chard
1961
0.0
Flame in the Streets
as Mrs. Bingham
1961
5.9
Ticket to Paradise
as Mrs. Higginbottom
1961
5.2
🎬
The Poet
as Erminia
1960
0.0
🎬
The Artful Dodger
1959
0.0
🎬
Saturday Playhouse
as Susan Sillsby
1958
0.0
🎬
Saturday Playhouse
as Mrs. Wilson
1958
0.0
🎬
Saturday Playhouse
as Mrs. Catt
1958
0.0
The Secret Place
as Mother (uncredited)
1957
6.2
The High Terrace
as Mrs. Webb
1956
6.0
Cloak Without Dagger
as Emmie
1956
7.2
Dixon of Dock Green
as Mrs. Walcott
1955
5.3
Before I Wake
as Elsie
1955
4.6
Trottie True
as Martha (uncredited)
1949
7.0