Gerry Cowper
Encyclopedia
Geraldine Cowper is an English
actress who is best known for playing Rosie Miller
in EastEnders
. In the mid 1980s she took the part of Clare France in After Henry on BBC radio and also appeared on television as Jim Hacker's daughter in Yes Minister.
comedy After Henry, which also starred Prunella Scales
and Joan Sanderson
. Whilst Scales and Sanderson reprised their roles in the later television version, Cowper was considered too old to play a teenager on screen and the role went to Janine Wood.
Cowper also played Lucy Hacker, the daughter of Jim Hacker, in the BBC comedy series Yes Minister
, although only in one episode. She featured in two episodes of Only Fools and Horses
— "Tea for Three
" and "The Frog's Legacy
" — as Trigger's niece Lisa, and also appeared in Bachelor Father. In her early teens, Cowper made an uncredited appearance in Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy
(1972) and played Rowan Morrison in the cult classic The Wicker Man (1973).
Just as David Spinx
, her on-screen EastEnders partner, had small roles in the series prior to playing Keith Miller, Cowper had briefly played Lindsay, the mother of a schizophrenic called Matt, in April 2002.
and the twin sister of Jackie Cowper, who was also an actress.
In 2006, Cowper's estranged husband was given a 15-year prison sentence for committing an armed robbery. Mark Foley and an accomplice got away with £181 in cash and £1,000 worth of cigarettes and alcohol from Unwins in Surbiton in April 2005. Holding a gun to the cashier's head, he threatened to kill him if he pushed the panic button. He was later arrested when police spotted him driving a stolen vehicle. Having previously served 14 years for an earlier armed robbery, Chessington resident Foley pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey on Friday 9 June 2006. He could be eligible for parole half way through his 15-year sentence.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actress who is best known for playing Rosie Miller
Rosie Miller
Rosemary "Rosie" Miller is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Gerry Cowper. Her first appearance was 9 September 2004 and she was axed in 2006, with her final scenes airing July 2006....
in EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
. In the mid 1980s she took the part of Clare France in After Henry on BBC radio and also appeared on television as Jim Hacker's daughter in Yes Minister.
Career
Cowper was Clare France, the youngest of the female triumvirate in the BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
comedy After Henry, which also starred Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales CBE is an English actress, known for her role as Basil Fawlty's long-suffering wife in the British comedy Fawlty Towers and her award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in the British film A Question of Attribution.-Career:Throughout her long career, Scales has usually been cast...
and Joan Sanderson
Joan Sanderson
Joan Sanderson was an English television and stage actress. During a long career she invariably played dragonish dowagers, stuck-up spinsters and suburban matrons.-Theatre:...
. Whilst Scales and Sanderson reprised their roles in the later television version, Cowper was considered too old to play a teenager on screen and the role went to Janine Wood.
Cowper also played Lucy Hacker, the daughter of Jim Hacker, in the BBC comedy series Yes Minister
Yes Minister
Yes Minister is a satirical British sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn that was first transmitted by BBC Television between 1980–1982 and 1984, split over three seven-episode series. The sequel, Yes, Prime Minister, ran from 1986 to 1988. In total there were 38 episodes—of which all but...
, although only in one episode. She featured in two episodes of Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...
— "Tea for Three
Tea for Three
"Tea for Three" is an episode of the BBC sitcom, Only Fools and Horses. It was the fourth episode of series 5, and was first screened on 21 September 1986.-Synopsis:...
" and "The Frog's Legacy
The Frog's Legacy
"The Frog's Legacy" is the sixth Christmas special episode of the BBC sitcom, Only Fools and Horses. It is the first episode of the series to introduce the unseen but pivotal character, Frederick "Freddie the Frog" Robdal, later revealed to be Rodney Trotter's real, biological father...
" — as Trigger's niece Lisa, and also appeared in Bachelor Father. In her early teens, Cowper made an uncredited appearance in Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy
Frenzy
Frenzy is a 1972 British thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The film is based upon the novel Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Arthur La Bern, and was adapted for the screen by Anthony Shaffer. La Bern...
(1972) and played Rowan Morrison in the cult classic The Wicker Man (1973).
Just as David Spinx
David Spinx
David Spinx is an English actor, probably best known for playing Keith Miller in the BBC television soap opera EastEnders since 2004. He has previously appeared in EastEnders as a guest character in an episode in 1999 as the cellmate of Steve Owen and provided the voices on the radios in Barry...
, her on-screen EastEnders partner, had small roles in the series prior to playing Keith Miller, Cowper had briefly played Lindsay, the mother of a schizophrenic called Matt, in April 2002.
Filmography
- EastEndersEastEndersEastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
… Rosie Miller; 2004–06, BBC One - Casualty … Eileen Price in "Feuds and Fury"; 14 December 2002, BBC One
- EastEndersEastEndersEastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
… Matt's Mother (Anne Lindsay) in two episodes; 23–25 April 2002, BBC One - The BillThe BillThe Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
… Jane Foster in "Meltdown: Part 1"; 6 March 2000, ITV - Trial & RetributionTrial & RetributionTrial & Retribution is a feature-length ITV police proceduraltelevision drama series that began in 1997. It was devised and written by Lynda La Plante as a follow-on from her successful television series Prime Suspect. Each episode of the Trial & Retribution series is broadcast over two nights. The...
… Ann Taylor; 19 October 1997 - The BillThe BillThe Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
… D.I.O. in "Repossession"; 6 September 1996, ITV - The BillThe BillThe Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
… Lorraine Dent in "Partners"; 23 August 1994, ITV - The BillThe BillThe Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
… May Kilby in "Desperate Remedies"; 31 August 1993, ITV - Birds of a FeatherBirds of a FeatherBirds of a Feather was a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC1 from 1989 until 1998. Starring Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, it was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who also wrote some of the episodes along with many other writers.The first episode sees sisters...
...Woman at counter "Shift" 30 October 1989, BBC One - The BillThe BillThe Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
… Brenda Knight in "Blue for a Boy"; 6 October 1988, ITV - Only Fools and HorsesOnly Fools and HorsesOnly Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...
… Lisa in "The Frog's LegacyThe Frog's Legacy"The Frog's Legacy" is the sixth Christmas special episode of the BBC sitcom, Only Fools and Horses. It is the first episode of the series to introduce the unseen but pivotal character, Frederick "Freddie the Frog" Robdal, later revealed to be Rodney Trotter's real, biological father...
"; 25 December 1987, BBC1 - Only Fools and HorsesOnly Fools and HorsesOnly Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...
… Lisa in "Tea for ThreeTea for Three"Tea for Three" is an episode of the BBC sitcom, Only Fools and Horses. It was the fourth episode of series 5, and was first screened on 21 September 1986.-Synopsis:...
"; 21 September 1986, BBC1 - The Return of the SoldierThe Return of the SoldierThe Return of the Soldier is the debut novel of English novelist Rebecca West first published in 1918. The novel recounts the return of the shell shocked Captain Chris Baldry from the trenches of The First World War from the perspective of his female cousin Jenny...
(1982) … Ward Nurse - S.W.A.L.K. … Katherine; 1982–84, Channel 4
- Yes MinisterYes MinisterYes Minister is a satirical British sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn that was first transmitted by BBC Television between 1980–1982 and 1984, split over three seven-episode series. The sequel, Yes, Prime Minister, ran from 1986 to 1988. In total there were 38 episodes—of which all but...
… Lucy Hacker in "The Right to Know"; 31 March 1980, BBC1 - Little Lord FauntleroyLittle Lord Fauntleroy (1980 film)Little Lord Fauntleroy is a 1980 British family film directed by Jack Gold and starring Alec Guiness, Rick Schroder and Eric Porter. It is based on the children's novel of the same name.-Plot synopsis:...
(1980) … Mellon - Enemy at the DoorEnemy at the DoorEnemy At The Door is a British television drama series made by London Weekend Television for ITV. The series was shown between 1978 and 1980 and dealt with the German occupation of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands, during the Second World War...
… Jenny Glover in "From a View to a Death"; 15 March 1980 - Two People... Christine (6 episodes) November/December 1979
- Telford's Change … Jenny Ball in three episodes; 7–21 January 1979
- Dick Turpin … Lucy in "The Champion"; 20 January 1979
- General HospitalGeneral Hospital (UK TV series)General Hospital is a British daytime soap opera produced by ATV which ran on ITV from 1972 to 1979. It was modelled after the American drama of the same name....
(1977) … Lynn Tyson - Double Echo (1976) … Alison Fisher
- The Wicker Man (1973) … Rowan Morrison
- FrenzyFrenzyFrenzy is a 1972 British thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The film is based upon the novel Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Arthur La Bern, and was adapted for the screen by Anthony Shaffer. La Bern...
(1972) … Spectator - Bachelor Father (1970) … Jo
Personal life
Cowper is the older sister of actress Nicola CowperNicola Cowper
Nicola Jane Cowper is a British actress. Cowper is the younger sister of twin actresses Gerry Cowper and Jackie Cowper. Cowper made an impression as a film actress in her early career, but she is best known for her work on British television, in particular her role as D.S Helen Diamond in BBC's...
and the twin sister of Jackie Cowper, who was also an actress.
In 2006, Cowper's estranged husband was given a 15-year prison sentence for committing an armed robbery. Mark Foley and an accomplice got away with £181 in cash and £1,000 worth of cigarettes and alcohol from Unwins in Surbiton in April 2005. Holding a gun to the cashier's head, he threatened to kill him if he pushed the panic button. He was later arrested when police spotted him driving a stolen vehicle. Having previously served 14 years for an earlier armed robbery, Chessington resident Foley pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey on Friday 9 June 2006. He could be eligible for parole half way through his 15-year sentence.