Skip to main content
George A. Cooper

George A. Cooper

Actor · 1925 – 2018 · 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.

Series24

  • TV6.2

    Casualty

    1986 · 88 votes

  • TV6.6

    Play for Today

    1970 · 10 votes

  • TV7.4

    The Saint

    1962 · 136 votes

  • TV7.8

    The Avengers

    1961 · 156 votes

  • TV5.7

    Crown Court

    1972 · 6 votes

  • TV6.7

    Grange Hill

    1978 · 26 votes

  • TV7.2

    Heartbeat

    1992 · 33 votes

  • TV7.2

    Theatre 625

    1964 · 5 votes

  • TV7.3

    Z-Cars

    1962 · 7 votes

  • TV5.2

    The Wednesday Play

    1964 · 5 votes

  • TV7.0

    ITV Playhouse

    1967 · 3 votes

  • TV7.8
  • TV4.8

    No Hiding Place

    1959 · 4 votes

  • TV7.0
  • TV6.4
  • TV7.0

    Wonder Woman

    1975 · 499 votes

  • TV6.7

    Dr. Finlay's Casebook

    1962 · 3 votes

  • TV6.0

    Dixon of Dock Green

    1955 · 4 votes

  • TV7.0

    BBC2 Play of the Week

    1977 · 1 votes

  • TV7.3

    Danger Man

    1960 · 25 votes

  • TV6.7

    Sykes

    1972 · 6 votes

  • TV7.2

    The New Avengers

    1976 · 52 votes

  • TV9.0

    The Expert

    1968 · 2 votes

  • TV8.2

    Public Eye

    1965 · 6 votes

Movies22

  • Movie7.6

    A Night to Remember

    1958 · 302 votes

  • Movie6.7
  • Movie5.9

    Tom Jones

    1963 · 250 votes

  • Movie6.0

    The Star Chamber

    1983 · 189 votes

  • Movie6.0
  • Movie7.0

    The Bargee

    1964 · 13 votes

  • Movie5.0

    Fair Game

    1994 · 6 votes

  • Movie7.8

    Trial by Combat

    1976 · 4 votes

  • Movie9.5
  • Movie5.9

    Life at the Top

    1965 · 17 votes

  • Movie6.8

    Nightmare

    1964 · 77 votes

  • Movie6.0
  • Movie5.6

    Okinawa

    1952 · 7 votes

  • Movie6.6

    Hell Is a City

    1960 · 35 votes

  • Movie6.8

    Fortune Is a Woman

    1957 · 16 votes

  • Movie
  • Movie7.2

    Violent Playground

    1958 · 23 votes

  • Movie9.0
  • Movie5.4

    Red Monarch

    1983 · 11 votes

  • Movie6.3

    Smashing Time

    1967 · 13 votes

  • Movie5.8

    Reunion at Fairborough

    1985 · 5 votes

  • Movie5.1

    The Strange Affair

    1968 · 8 votes