Kenneth Cope

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Kenneth Charles Cope (born 14 April 1931) is a retired English actor. He is best known for his roles as Marty Hopkirk in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Jed Stone in Coronation Street and Ray Hilton in Brookside.

Early life[]

Kenneth Cope was born on 14 April 1931 in Liverpool.^[1]

Career[]

Between 1961 and 1966, Cope had a regular role in Coronation Street as the shady Jed Stone, a part he later returned to in 2008. The appearance led to the recording of a novelty pop single, "Hands Off, Stop Mucking About", with Tony Hatch. Although it was not a hit, it led to a regular slot as a disc jockey with Radio Luxembourg.^[2]

Cope also appeared in the satirical series That Was The Week That Was from 1962 until 1963.

He played Subutai in the 1965 film of the life of Genghis Khan, and in the same year appeared in Dateline Diamonds playing Lester Benson. In 1967 he appeared as Tom Savage in "The Bird Who Knew Too Much" episode of The Avengers.^[3]

In Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (1969–1970), Cope played the ghost private eye Marty Hopkirk opposite Mike Pratt's Jeff Randall.

He also took leading roles in two Carry On films. In Carry On at Your Convenience (1971) he played Vic Spanner, the obnoxious shop steward central to the film's trade union and industrial problems storyline and the rival in the film's romantic sub-plot. In Carry On Matron (1972) he took the more sympathetic role of Cyril Carter, the son of a thief who is forced to impersonate a female nurse as part of his father's attempt to rob a maternity hospital. Once there, Cyril finds love with a real nurse.

He appeared as Jack Victor in Catweazle ("The Wogle Stone") in 1971. In 1975–1976 he wrote three series of the BBC children's television series Striker, starring the young Kevin Moreton and inspired by the local youth football team in the village of Islip, Oxfordshire, where the Cope family was then living.

Cope featured in three episodes of Minder playing different characters: newly released prisoner Arthur Stubbs in "Bury My Half at Waltham Green"; 'Scooter' in "Waiting for Goddard"; and police informer Phelan in "Bring Me the Head of Arthur Daley".

He later appeared in the Doctor Who story Warriors' Gate (in 1981), and guest-starred in four episodes of Casualty, as well as taking roles in Juliet Bravo, The Bill, Waking the Dead, A Touch of Frost and Kavanagh QC.

In 1984, Cope starred in Bootle Saddles, an ill-conceived surreal sitcom about a failing themed 'cowboy village' on the outskirts of Merseyside. He played the lead character Percy James, who was passionate about the park despite the poor financial returns. The series appeared to be less a parody and more a sort of homage to 1950s and 1960s westerns, with episodes structured loosely around epics like High Noon and The Magnificent Seven. The characters rarely strayed out of their diegetic cowboy personas, despite the contemporary setting. The series was axed after one season.

In 1995, he appeared in the same episode of Out of the Blue as his daughter Martha.

In 1997, Cope played dodgy ex-copper Charlie Fairclough alongside David Jason in an episode of A Touch of Frost titled "True Confessions".

From 1999 to 2002 he played Ray Hilton in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside.

Cope was offered a cameo role in the 2000–2001 revival of Randall and Hopkirk starring Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, but turned it down. He did, however, feature on the "Behind the Scenes" section of the Series 1 DVD, wishing the cast of the remake well. He also provided the foreword to a Randall and Hopkirk retrospective book (by Geoff Tibballs), published in 1994. Also, an 'Appreciation', written by Cope, was included in Annette André's autobiography, 'Where have I been all My Life?', (Quoit Media, 2018).

He played Neville Harding in 2004's "Shadowplay", S4:E11&12 of Waking the Dead.

In 2008, Cope's Coronation Street character Jed Stone returned to the ITV soap after 42 years' absence, appearing as part of a storyline involving property developer Tony Gordon. The character was kept onscreen for several months before being written out again.

Cope now resides in Southport, and writes a weekly column for the weekly Southport Visiter newspaper.

Personal life[]

Cope married actress Renny Lister, whom he had met when she worked on Coronation Street, in 1961. They have three children.

His daughter Martha Cope is also an actress. His sons Nick Cope and Mark Cope were members of the rock group the Candyskins. In 1974, Cope and his wife opened a restaurant, in Watlington, Oxfordshire, named Martha's Kitchen after his daughter.^[4][5]

He was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2000, but six years later he was told this was a misdiagnosis.^[6]

Cope, who now suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,^[7] is still an avid supporter of Everton.

In January 2014, Cope appeared as a character witness during the trial of former Coronation Street colleague William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow in the series.^[8]

Filmography[]

References[]

External links[]

• Kenneth Cope at IMDb (Note: this source gives a birth date of 14 June)