According to the information on here, Stephanie Cole was born in 1941, making her 49 when Waiting For God was made. Did anyone think she was older? I certainly did.
The eyes are open, the mouth moves, but Mr. Brain has long since departed, hasn't he, Perce?
yeah i was sure she was older, but it did say that she started playing 90 year old women when she was 17. some people are just born old.
shareI was shocked to read that too.
Maybe it's the make-up?
Either way, splendid actress. Well cast.
Hi. Yes, I thought she was in her 70's when she was in Waiting for God. She portrayed people that age and older so I am going to assume that it is makeup. I know they can do that to make people look older. When I was reading her stats I expected her to be dead already as I assumed she was born in the 1920's. Must be makeup. But the show is hilarious! I have to get the DVD collection.
shareYes indeed. Stephanie, as even she says in her life story, has a habit of playing older women. She was born in 1941 and made her debut at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School at 17, playing a 90-year-old woman!
Diana was not the only elderly character she played on TV. In the classic prisoner-of-war drama "Tenko" she played Dr Beatrice Mason. She was supposed to be in her fifties and Stephanie had just turned 40.
Also in the Ronnie Barker situation comedy "Open All Hours" she played a miserable widow in old age. This was at about the same time as "Tenko".
In the 1990s she played Dame Lettie Colston in a BBC version of Muriel Spark's novel "Memento Mori" - another elderly character.
Happily, Stephanie is still with us and works extensively in the theatre, where she recently played Madame Arcati in Coward's "Blithe Spirit" and Mrs Malaprop in Sheridan's "The Rivals".
It would be nice to see her on TV again soon, if they can find a suitable vehicle for her.
Oh, yes, I can see her as a zany, wonderful Madam Arcati. And an offbeat Miss Marple (or similar lady sleuth.)
shareHmmm, this might explain my strange attraction to her. I find Diana, not sexy, but certainly alluring. Something about her hair and eyes just makes me quiver in the knees.
As for a possible American version of the series, well let's hope Hollywood sticks to sex and violence, otherwise - much like most British shows ripped off - they'd just screw this show up. And yes, I'm an American.
"When I was reading her stats I expected her to be dead already as I assumed she was born in the 1920's."
Agree....knowing this series is old, I thought she might 'no longer be with us' looking as old as she does in it....glad she is!!!!
"Something about her hair and eyes just makes me quiver in the knees."
Then again, it could be all the nice things she is saying to everyone....
Read My Lips!!!!
I also thought she was much older. But I'm watching the first episode right now as I type, and I'm analyzing her appearance... If you just look at her face and skin and nothing else, she actually doesn't look all that old. She's really not wrinkled at all, although she does have a bit of sagging -- perhaps that's enough to give the impression of elderliness, along with the color and style of her hair, the glasses worn down toward the tip of the nose, the shapeless wardrobe, that curmudgeonly expression, and the posture (it's amazing what actors can portray and convey by using nothing but posture and body language!). Frankly, I think the hairstyle and the gray hair, together, form the lynchpin of the whole impression of senior citizenry. Still, as a 48-year-old woman, it's a bit alarming to think that she can seem like a septugenarian at the age of 49!
shareAs I started watching this show, It occured to me that she actually looked a little younger in this show than when she played the Black Widow in "Open All Hours" which was filmed about 10 years earlier. Now it makes sense! :-)
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She is definitely good at playing people older than herself; it amuses me because I'm the same way.....I'm 17, and so far, my three major stage roles have been as Monsigneur D'Arque (the creepy old asylum guy from Beauty and the Beast), Miss Hannigan (from Annie), and Marilla Cuthbert (from Anne of Green Gables). So it's good to know that I'm not the only one, lol. :P
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Stephanie Cole always seemed to play old/older roles for a lot of her career. Now in TV shows seems to have levelled out and look her true age. She has grown plump and pleasant looking. I think in her earlier career her severe/snappy-tempered roles went well with her thin figure. But I kind of prefer her now that she is plump and less severe.
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