Kenneth Cope facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kenneth Cope
Cope in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
Born	Kenneth Charles Cope (1931-04-14)14 April 1931 Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Died	11 September 2024(2024-09-11) (aged 93)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1954–2009
Spouse(s)	Renny Lister ​ (m. 1961)​
Children	3, including Martha and Nick

Kenneth Charles Cope (born 14 April 1931 – died 11 September 2024) was an English actor and writer for TV shows. He was very well known for playing Marty Hopkirk in the TV series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). He also played Jed Stone in Coronation Street and Ray Hilton in Brookside. Kenneth Cope was also part of the famous Carry On movie team.

Kenneth Cope's Early Life

Kenneth Cope was born on 14 April 1931, in Wavertree, Liverpool, England. At that time, Liverpool was in Lancashire, but it is now part of Merseyside.

Kenneth Cope's Acting Career

After learning to act at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Kenneth Cope started playing different characters in films in the mid-1950s.

Becoming a TV Star

Between 1961 and 1966, he became well-known for his regular role in Coronation Street. He played a character named Jed Stone, who was a bit sneaky. He even came back to play Jed Stone again in 2008!

Kenneth Cope also appeared in a funny TV show called That Was the Week That Was from 1962 to 1963.

In 1965, he played Subutai in a film about the life of Genghis Khan. In the same year, he was in Dateline Diamonds, playing Lester Benson. In 1967, he appeared as Tom Savage in an episode of The Avengers called "The Bird Who Knew Too Much."

Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)

One of his most famous roles was in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (1969–1970). In this show, Cope played Marty Hopkirk, a ghost who was a private detective. He worked with Mike Pratt, who played Jeff Randall.

Carry On Films

He also had big roles in two Carry On movies. In Carry On at Your Convenience (1971), he played Vic Spanner. In Carry On Matron (1972), he played Cyril Carter, a thief's son who had to pretend to be a female nurse. While pretending, Cyril found love with a real nurse.

Other TV Appearances

In 1972, he played Henry Thackery in an episode of The Adventures of Black Beauty called "Sailor on a Horse." Henry was a missing heir who returned to save land near the Gordon family.

He appeared as Jack Victor in Catweazle in 1971. Kenneth Cope also wrote three seasons of a BBC children's TV show called Striker (1975–1976). This show was about a youth football team. He also wrote for other shows like A Sharp Intake of Breath.

Cope was in three episodes of Minder, playing different characters each time. He played Albert Stubbs, 'Scooter', and a police informer named Phelan.

He later appeared in the Doctor Who story Warriors' Gate in 1981. He also guest-starred in two episodes of Casualty. He had roles in many other popular shows like Juliet Bravo, The Bill, Waking the Dead, A Touch of Frost, and Kavanagh QC.

In 1984, Cope starred in Bootle Saddles, a TV comedy about a cowboy village that wasn't doing very well. He played Percy James, who loved the park even though it didn't make much money. The show was canceled after one season.

In 1995, he appeared with his daughter Martha in an episode of Out of the Blue.

From 1999 to 2002, he played Ray Hilton in the TV soap opera Brookside.

When Randall and Hopkirk was brought back in 2000–2001, Kenneth Cope was offered a small role. He turned it down, but he did appear on the "Behind the Scenes" section of the DVD, wishing the new cast well. He also wrote the introduction for a book about Randall and Hopkirk Deceased in 1994.

In 2004, Cope played Neville Harding in two episodes of Waking the Dead called "Shadowplay."

In 2008, his Coronation Street character Jed Stone returned to the show after 42 years! He was part of a story with a property developer named Tony Gordon. Jed Stone stayed on screen for several months, and this was Kenneth Cope's last acting role.

Kenneth Cope's Personal Life

Kenneth Cope married actress Renny Lister in 1961. They met when she worked on Coronation Street. They had two sons and one daughter and lived in Witney, Oxfordshire. Their sons Nick and Mark Cope started a rock band called The Candyskins. Their daughter, Martha Cope, is also an actress. Renny Lister stopped acting in 1997.

In 1974, Cope and his wife opened a restaurant in Watlington, Oxfordshire. They named it Martha's Kitchen, after their daughter.

Kenneth Cope faced some health challenges later in life. In his retirement, he lived in Southport and wrote a weekly column for the Southport Visiter newspaper.

Kenneth Cope passed away on 11 September 2024, at the age of 93.

Filmography

Television Appearances

• BBC Sunday-Night Theatre, " The Duenna" (1953); "The Bridge" (1953) as Robert Nason; "The Stone Ship" (1959) as Leading Telegraphist Marshall
• Johnny, You're Wanted, "Blind Corner" (1953) as Police Constable
• Patrol Car, "The Lost Boy" (1955) as Tom
• Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School, "Bunter Knows How" (1955) and "Bunter the Bold" (1956) as Loder
• Dixon of Dock Green (1956–76), six episides
• Big City, "Rogue Male" (1956) as Chuck
• Lucky Silver, "A Man Called Mickey" (1956) as Charlie
• Jesus of Nazareth (1956) as rich young man
• Whack-O! (1956) as F.D. Price-Whittaker
• The Adventures of Robin Hood, "The Mark" (1957) as Diccon; "An Apple for the Archer" (1957) as Timothy Cox; "Elixir of Youth"(1958) as Alwyn the Squire
• Ivanhoe, "The Escape" (1958) as Warren
• ITV Television Playhouse, "Strictly for the Sparrows" (1958) as Tago; "The Cymbals at Your Door" (1959) as Bill Lewis; "A Kind of Freedom" (1959)
• ITV Play of the Week, "The Publican's Story" (1958) as Fred White; "In Search of Happiness" (1960) as Gennady
• No Hiding Place, "Wheels of Fury" (1959) as Blackie Martin
• Saturday Playhouse, "The Larford Lad" (1959) as Johnnie Baxter
• William Tell, "The Bandit" (1959) as Marco
• Boyd Q.C., "Confession of Murder" (1959)
• Kipps (1960) as Buggins
• Night on the Highway (1960 TV movie) as Maurizio Rossello
• Suspense, "Eight Feet to Midnight" (1960) as Joey Gallagher
• The Days of Vengeance, "Goodbye, Dolly Gray" (1960) as Reg Parrish
• Coronation Street (1961–1966, 2008–2009) as Jed Stone
• One Step Beyond, "The Villa" (1961) as Lionel
• Drama 61-67, "The Takers" (1961) as Boyd
• Deadline Midnight, "Before the Cock Crows" (1961) as Joey Lippert
• That Was the Week That Was (1962–1963)
• Studio 4, "North Flight" (1962) as Bill Lane
• First Night, "The One Night of the Year" (1963) as Johnny
• The Lance Percival Show (1965)
• World of His Own (1965)
• Z-Cars, "The Share Out" (1965) as Richie; "The Great Art Robbery" (1967) as Frankie Hancock
• Barney Is My Darling, "Weddings, Funerals and Christenings" (1966)
• The Avengers, "The Bird Who Knew Too Much" (1967) as Tom Savage; "The Curious Case of the Countless Clues" (1968) as Gardiner
• Sanctuary, "The Undefeated" (1967) as Charlie Musgrove
• Vendetta, "The Ten-Per-Cent Man" (1967) as Johnny
• Life with Cooper, "A Shortage of Money" (1968)
• We Have Ways of Making You Laugh (1968)
• Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (1969–1970) as Marty Hopkirk
• Catweazle, "The Wogle Stone" (1971) as Jack Victor
• The Adventures of Black Beauty, "Sailor on a Horse" (1973) ... as Thackeray
• Crown Court, "The Assault on Choga Sar" (1974) as Dennis Wainwright
• ITV Playhouse, "Love Affair" (1974) as Roche
• The Famous Five, "Five Are Together Again" (1978) as Sam
• Shelley (1979), "The Nelson Touch" and "Moving In" as Alan Forsyth
• Minder, "Bury My Half at Waltham Green" (1979) as Arthur Stubbs; "Waiting for Goddard" (1985) as Scooter; "Bring Me the Head of Arthur Daley" (1994) as Phelan.
• Play for Today, "The Vanishing Army" (1980) as Drill Sergeant
• George and Mildred (1980) as Harvey
• Juliet Bravo (1980–1985) as Freddie Cooper
• Levkas Man (1981) as Bert
• Doctor Who, "Warriors' Gate" (1981) as Packard
• Strangers, "A Free Weekend in the Country" (1982) as Det. Chief Supt. Miller
• Thank You, Mrs. Clinkscales (TV Movie, 1984) as Hogan
• Bootle Saddles (1984) as Percy James
• There Comes a Time (1985) as stonemason
• The Practice (1986) as Stanley O'Dowd
• King and Castle, "Exodus" (1986) as Ernest Midgeley
• Miss Marple: Sleeping Murder (TV movie, 1987) as Jackie Afflick
• Rumpole of the Bailey, "Rumpole and the Judge's Elbow" (1987) as Norman
• Truckers (1987), as Stubs
• City Lights, "Moonlighting" (1987) as Dicky Rainbow
• Hollywood Sports (1988) as Roger Marshall
• Casualty, "Desperate Odds" (1988) as Archie Higg; "Value for Monday" (1994) as Les Hocknall
• The Return of the Antelope, "Home Again" (1988) as Foreman
• Bergerac, "Natural Enemies" (1989) as Ted Swinton
• Uncle Jack, "Oil" (1990) as Colonel Groves
• Making News, "Line of Fire" (1990) as Mac Thorpe
• The Bill, "It's a Small World" (1991) as PC Len Dorton; "Sequence of Events" (2006) as Jimmy Hastings
• Lovejoy, "Somewhere – Over the Rainbow?" (1994) as John Ikin
• Out of the Blue, "Last Bus To Nowhere" (1995) as Mr. Flood
• Medics, "Second Chance" (1995) as Roy Banks
• Wales Playhouse, "Archangel Night Out" (1995) as Vern
• 99-1, "A Game of Two Halves" (1995) as Ordell
• Respect (TV movie, 1996) as Stan Peters
• A Touch of Frost , "True Confessions" (1997) as Charlie Fairclough
• Goodnight Sweetheart, "The Leaving of Liverpool" (1997) as Landlord
• Kavanagh QC, "Time of Need" (1999) as Maurice Fitzalan
• Brookside (1999–2002) as Ray Hilton
• Last of the Summer Wine, "The Love Mobile" (1997) and "All That Glitters Is Not Elvis" (2008) as Lance
• Waking the Dead, "Shadowplay" (2004) as Neville Harding
• Doctors, "Too Darn Hot" (2004) as Brian Holland and "Invisible Touch" (2007) as Frank Leakey
• The Royal, "Dr Who?" (2007) as Albert Trent
• Hustle, "Getting Even" (2007) as Colin
• The Royal Today, Episode 1.15 (2008) as William Brazier