Famed actress Stephanie Cole OBE has passed away. She is best remembered for her roles of Diana Trent in Waiting for God and Dr Beatrice Mason in Tenko.

Ms. Cole was born October 5th, 1941 in Solihull, Warwickshire. She would receive training as an actress at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School between 1958 and 1960.

Her debut came in Blithe Spirit as Madame Arcati when she was 17, returning to the same role at 63 in 2004 in London’s West End.

Ms. Cole would also appear in Talking Heads‘ first series in 1988 alongside Dame Thora Hird, Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Patricia Routledge, and Dame Julie Walters. This came following her un in Tenko.

However, Ms. Cole is probably best known for her role as cantankerous retiree Diana Trent in Waiting for God – which ran from 1990 to 1994 for five series and two Christmas specials. Despite playing a retiree, she was only 48 when the series started. In 1992 she would win the Best TV Comedy Actress Award at the British Comedy Awards.

Two other memorable roles for Ms. Cole were as Joan Norton, Dr Martin Ellingham’s aunt in Doc Martin alongside Martin Clunes from 2004-2009, and as Roy Cropper‘s mother, Sylvia Goodwin from 2011 to 2013. She left Coronation Street following her brother’s death, earlier than expected.

In 2002, University of Bristol granted her an honorary Master of Arts degree. She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2005 Queen’s Birthday List for services to drama, the elderly and mental health charities. Ms. Cole was also a supporter of the Overseas Plastic Surgery Appeal.

Ms. Cole was married twice: first to Henry Marshall (1973 to 1988) and then to Henry Marshall from 1998 until his death in 2004. She had one daughter with her first husband.

She passed away at the age of 84 on September 18th, 2026 after suffering complications from Alzheimer’s disease.