George Edward Cole OBE (22 April 1925 – 5 August 2015) was an English actor whose career spanned 75 years.

He was best known for playing Arthur Daley in the long-running ITV comedy-drama show Minder and Flash Harry in the early St Trinian's films.

[3] The senior George suffered from epilepsy, a double hernia, and the after-effects of gas poisoning during the First World War; he had several jobs which were curtailed by his ill-health, including the pulling of a heavy roller for Tooting council, which exertion in Cole's opinion contributed to his father's death.

[1] He left school at 14 to be a butcher's boy and had an ambition to join the Merchant Navy, but landed a part in a touring musical and chose acting as a career.

[3] He recalled during that year (1939) he was in Dublin on the day of Britain's entry into World War II when he witnessed an effigy of Neville Chamberlain being publicly burned without interference from the local police.

[3] Cole's career was interrupted by his national service in the Royal Air Force from 1944 to 1947, where he was temporarily a radio operator.

[8] The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh (1963) is a three-part serial which formed part of the Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color TV series.

He also made a guest appearance as Mr Downs, a bank manager, in a 1978 episode of the sitcom The Good Life, performed in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II.

[16] George Cole is often mistakenly credited for performing in the American films Gone in 60 Seconds (1974), Double Nickels (1977) and Deadline Auto Theft (1983).