Gretchen Franklin
Acting • Born 1911-07-07 – Died 2005-07-11
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.
Filmography
59 credits
The One and Only Phyllis Dixey
Movie • 1978
Phyllis's Dresser
The Murder Game
Movie • 1965
Landlady
Before I Wake
Movie • 1955
Elsie
The Trouble with Our Ivy
Movie • 1961
Mrs. Chard
Ticket to Paradise
Movie • 1961
Mrs. Higginbottom
The Silent Playground
Movie • 1963
Mrs. Elgin
The Four Musketeers
Movie • 1974
D'Artagnan's Mother (archive footage) (uncredited)
Secrets
Movie • 1973
Mrs. Pitt
Twisted Nerve
Movie • 1968
Clarkie
The Company Man
Movie • 1970
Tea Lady
The Three Musketeers
Movie • 1973
D’Artagnan’s Mother
Flame in the Streets
Movie • 1961
Mrs. Bingham
The Night Visitor
Movie • 1971
Mrs. Hansen
The High Terrace
Movie • 1956
Mrs. Webb
Return to Waterloo
Movie • 1984
Woman on Train
Subterfuge
Movie • 1968
Bus Conductress
How I Won the War
Movie • 1967
2nd Old Lady
Help!
Movie • 1965
Neighbour
Trottie True
Movie • 1949
Martha (uncredited)
The Secret Place
Movie • 1957
Mother (uncredited)
Cloak Without Dagger
Movie • 1956
Emmie
Ragtime
Movie • 1981
Elderly Woman
The Poet
Movie • 1960
Erminia
The Man Who Came to Die
Movie • 1965
Mrs. Marriott
Quincy's Quest
Movie • 1979
Witch
Keeping Up Appearances
TV • 1990
Daddy's Fiance
The Artful Dodger
TV • 1959
Budgie
TV • 1971
Carrie Wetherall
EastEnders
TV • 1985
Z-Cars
TV • 1962
Gideon's Way
TV • 1965
Martha Bray
The Scales of Justice
TV • 1962
Rose Jenkins
The Sweeney
TV • 1975
Florence, the Charlady
The Protectors
TV • 1972
Nelly Baxter
Dixon of Dock Green
TV • 1955
Mrs. Walcott
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
TV • 1973
I Didn't Know You Cared
TV • 1975
Auntie Lil
A Slight Case Of...
TV • 1965
Dead Ernest
TV • 1982
George and Mildred
TV • 1976
Mother
Bowler
TV • 1973
Castle Haven
TV • 1969
EastEnders
TV • 1985
Ethel Skinner
Blackadder
TV • 1983
Cordelia
Rising Damp
TV • 1974
Aunt Maud
Bowler
TV • 1973
Mrs Bowler
Terry and June
TV • 1979
Cath
Danger UXB
TV • 1979
Mrs. Flack
Sykes
TV • 1972
Bookstall Assistant
Quatermass
TV • 1979
Edna
Saturday Playhouse
TV • 1958
Susan Sillsby
Saturday Playhouse
TV • 1958
Mrs. Wilson
Saturday Playhouse
TV • 1958
Mrs. Catt
Londoners
TV • 1965
Mrs. Hincastle
Nicholas Nickleby
TV • 1977
Miss Knag
Story Parade
TV • 1964
Mrs. Huxtable
Black and Blue
TV • 1973
Mrs. Pitt
Churchill's People
TV • 1974
Mrs Baxter
Hazell
TV • 1978
Pearl