Stephanie Cole, the British actress who played Aunt Joan in Doc Martin and later Roy Cropper’s mother in Coronation Street, has died. She was 84.
Her family announced her death on Friday, saying she had been living with Alzheimer’s for several years.
Cole spent more than six decades acting and depending on when you grew up, there is probably a different role you remember her for.
For many, it will be Joan Norton in Doc Martin. She was the aunt Martin Ellingham turned to after arriving in the fictional Cornish village of Portwenn and was one of the show’s original characters. Cole stayed with the series until 2009.
Coronation Street viewers knew her as Sylvia Goodwin, Roy Cropper’s mother. She arrived in Weatherfield in 2011 and quickly proved that Roy wasn’t the only unusual member of the family.
Cole won a British Soap Award for Best Comedy Performance in Coronation Street.
Before the famed roles, she appeared as Dr Beatrice Mason in the BBC’s Tenkoin the early 1980s and then played Mrs Featherstone in Open All Hours.
Cole was only in her late 40s when she began playing the retirement-home resident, who was considerably older. The sitcom ran for five series and became one of the defining roles of her career.
Her work wasn’t limited to television. Cole also had a long career on stage and radio and was appointed an OBE in 2005 for services to drama, elderly people and mental health charities.
Her family said they were immensely proud of what she achieved, both on screen and away from it.
They have asked for privacy following her death.
2026-09-18 22:54:00
