Gretchen Franklin
From Free net encyclopedia
Image:Ethel skinner.jpg 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, soap opera, 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. As well as being a staple for humour in the soap, both Ethel and her close friend Dot regularly brought pathos to their storylines; one example being when the two characters were the only ones to appear in one episode in 1987. In this 'two-hander' episode, they reminisced about their childhoods and the days of the Blitz.
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 (June Brown) to euthanize her (or help her to die).
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.