Shirley Stelfox (born 11 April 1941) is an English actress, who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She is best known as Edna Birch in the British soap opera Emmerdale.She played the first "Rose" in Keeping Up Appearances, but was later replaced by the late Mary Millar. She has appeared in several other well-known television series, including Making Out, Juliet Bravo, Coronation Street, The Bill, and Crossroads.She played Jane Healy, Melanie Healy's mother, in an episode of EastEnders, and as the mother of Julie Walters and Victoria Wood in the TV movie Pat and Margaret (1994). She played the role of the "$2.00 Prostitute" in 1984, a movie adaptation of the George Orwell novel, starring John Hurt and Richard Burton.She was married to the actor Don Henderson from 1979 until his death in 1997.
Has three children: Helena L. Edmundson (b. 1963) from her first marriage, and Mimi Helen Henderson (b. 1966) and John James Henderson (b. 1968) from her second marriage.
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Grandmother to Matthew Robert Barrett (b. 1992), via her daughter Helena and her husband Geoffrey Barrett.