Actors - Gretchen Franklin

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	Actors - Gretchen Franklin

Gretchen Franklin (July 7, 1911 – July 11, 2005) was an English actress.

She was born in London, a cousin of the actor Clive Dunn. She was best known for the character of Ethel Skinner in the long running BBC One television series, EastEnders. She played the role on a regular basis from 1985 until 1988. After this she returned to the show intermittently. These appearances became more brief and widely spaced as time went on. Her final appearance was in 2000.

Her character owned a dog called Willy and her famous line in the show was: "Where's my Willy?" Her character was killed off from the show in September 2000 in a controversial storyline, in which she asked her friend Dot Branning to euthanize her.

She had previously had regular roles in several television series, including Crossroads and the British sitcom, George and Mildred as Mildred's mother, and Rising Damp as Rigsby's Aunt Maud. She also played Else Garnett in the pilot episode of Til Death Us Do Part.

She died just four days after her 94th birthday.

Trivia

Franklin is the target of Mark E Smith's rage in the Fall song "Telephone Thing", in which he repeatedly asks "How dare you assume I would want to parlez-vouz with you, Gretchen Franklin?". Exactly why Smith chose to single her out remains unclear.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Gretchen Franklin ]

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