Emmerdale Edna Birch star's life – Doctor Who husband, wig secret and racy dominatrix

Emmerdale’s Edna Birch was a bit like Marmite – you either loved her or hated her.

From the tragic scenes which highlighted financial issues for pensioners – which left Edna eating a single piece of lettuce on a plate for her meal – to her lovable pooch Tootsie, Edna was an Emmerdale legend.

Actress Shirley Stelfox played her from 2000 until her death in 2015, appearing in a whopping 1,503 episodes.

But Shirley was a lot different to Edna’s stoic personality, and played a huge variety of characters throughout her incredible acting career, including taking on the role of a prostitute in George Orwell adaptation Nineteen Eighty-Four.

The actress tragically passed away from terminal cancer just four weeks after her diagnosis.

To commemorate six years since her death, Daily Star takes a look at Shirley’s life off-screen.

Rival soap stints

Emmerdale wasn’t the only soap Shirley appeared in – although it was her most legendary role to date.

In fact, her first ever small-screen acting role was in rival ITV soap Coronation Street back in 1960.

She played various Corrie characters over the years, the most recent being Shirley Henderson in 1990 – but she also appeared as a barmaid and video dating agency businesswoman.

Shirley even appeared in BBC soap EastEnders in 1999 – one year before she joined Emmerdale – as Jane Healy, Mel Owen’s mum who attends her wedding to Ian Beale on New Year’s Eve.

She was revealed to have been killed off 20 years later.

But Shirley actually had a spooky connection to one member of the Emmerdale cast before either of them signed up to the ITV soap.

She appeared alongside Elizabeth Estensen – best known for her role as Diane Sugden until she quit the soap earlier this year – in Noel Coward’s 1985 play Cavalcade.

As well as appearing in other soaps like Heartbeat, Brookside and The Bill, Shirley appeared in six episodes of Keeping Up Appearances as Rose in 1990.

However, she only appeared in one series of the show before being replaced by Mary Millar due to prior commitments.

Raunchy scenes

Although many fans will remember Edna as prim and proper, always hiding her hair beneath a tight hat, Shirley looked a lot different in real life.

She even played a prostitute, labelled simply ‘The Whore’ in the adaptation of George Orwell’s novel 1984, appearing in a cropped scarlet wig and black lace choker for the sultry scenes.

Shirley slipped into a strapless black dress which featured sequins and a plunging neckline for the shoot, donning a dark smokey eye make-up look with dark red lipstick.

She also appeared in comedy Personal Services as a whip-wielding dominatrix intent on helping to host kinky sex sessions for upper class folk.

And in real life, Shirley tended to wear her long blonde tresses loose and tumbling past her shoulders.

In hospital scenes where Edna was first seen without her iconic hat, the actress revealed she actually had to wear a wig.

She remarked at the time: “I had to cover my blonde hair with a wig because I only have a couple of grey hairs, even at 63!”

Tragic losses

Shirley was married twice in her life – first to Keith Edmundson for three years. The pair shared a daughter, Helena, before eventually gong their separate ways.

The star later tied the knot to fellow actor Don Henderson in 1979 – who was best known for his roles in shows like Red Dwarf and Doctor Who.

Shirley helped to bring up Don’s two children from his first marriage, and the pair were together until Don tragically died from throat cancer in 1997.

Speaking about what Don might have thought of her character Edna, Shirley told the Birmingham Sunday Mercury in 2004: “I can just see him now, roaring with laughter.”

But she explained that seeing Edna in a relationship of her own would have been too strange, explaining at the time: “It would show too much of her soft side and change her character. Edna was brought in to give Ashley and Bernice a hard time, and I think it’s very important to keep that edge.”

Health issues and death

Shirley suffered from bilateral amblyopia all her life, a condition of the eyes which means the brain fails to fully input sight from one eye and favours the other.

The condition left her short-sighted.

In 2015, Shirley was diagnosed with terminal cancer – and she passed away just four weeks later. She was said to have died peacefully at home with her daughter Helena by her side.

ITV executive producer John Whiston paid tribute to the star at the time, commenting: “The family here at Emmerdale are deeply saddened by Shirley’s passing. It is hard to imagine Emmerdale without her.

“We offer our condolences to Shirley’s family and share our feeling of loss with the millions of viewers who will miss Edna enormously.”

Her co-stars also paid tribute to their beloved colleague, with Donna Windsor star Verity Rushworth posting: “Thinking of the entire @emmerdale family and the loved ones of the legendary Shirley Stelfox. Taught me so much when growing up.”

Heartbreaking final scene

Edna was last seen on-screen on October 26, 2015 during a poignant scene with co-star Freddie Jones, who played Sandy Thomas until just before his death in July 2019.

Sandy had been lodging with Edna and decided to gift her a set of walkie talkies to chat to him when he moved out.

He told her: “I thought it’d be very strange for you to go back to living on your own again. But like this, we shall be only the touch of a button away.”

Edna told him: “You’re a daft old fool. And a very dear friend.”

Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7pm, with an extra episode at 8pm on Thursdays, on ITV

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk