George Cole (born April 22, 1925 in Tooting, London, England) is a British actor. He began appearing in films in the early 1940s, and his career was only briefly interrupted by service in the Royal Air Force from 1944 to 1947. He became familiar to audiences in British comedy films in the 1950s, but later became a respected character actor on television.
George Cole is best known for his roles as "Flash Harry" in the St Trinian's films and as Arthur Daley in the TV series Minder.
He also starred as Brian Hook in the BBC Comedy "Dad" in the late 1990s alongside Kevin McNally, who played his son, Alan Hook. There were 13 episodes of the show, spanning two series and a Christmas special. Each episode title punned on the word 'Dad' (eg: Dadmestic; Dadcipline; Habadadery; Dadaholic; Transcendadtal; Dadmocracy; Reprodadtion), although the Christmas special broke with this tradition, taking the title 'Nemesis'.
He is able to hide his London accent when playing upper-class characters, such as Sir Giles Lynchwood in the TV adaptation of Tom Sharpe's novel Blott on the Landscape.
The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery (1966)
