Mildred Dorothy Tremble was born in London and had three siblings: Arthur, Ethel (Avril Elgar) and Hilda (Jean Marlow).
Although her maiden name is given as Tremble, in the 1974 film Man About the House she is referred to as Mildred Askwith by the Doorman at Thames Television who turns out to be her wartime boyfriend Arthur Mulgrove.
Her eldest sibling was her only brother, Arthur Tremble, who had emigrated to New Zealand and was employed branding sheep; it is hinted that he was homosexual.
During the Second World War, Mildred worked in the canteen at an airbase near London with Gladys (Eunice Black) and Kitty, and several others; Mildred had many boyfriends, including flight sergeant Lee Kennedy (Lionel Murton), army sergeant Arthur Mulgrove (Norman Mitchell) and many others including a ginger one, a tall one with a crew cut and one with a moustache.
Their wedding day was a disaster as when Mildred was walking up the aisle in her navy blue dress, George accidentally stepped on her bridal train and ripped it clean off.
Shortly after, they moved to 6 Myddleton Terrace, Putney, where they owned a house of which they let out the two upper floors to Chrissy Plummer (Paula Wilcox), Jo (Sally Thomsett) and a young woman called Eleanor.
After Eleanor leaves in 1973, Robin Tripp moves in, but George does not think it's morally appropriate to have a man sharing a flat with two women.
The flatmates throw a party for the Ropers' 21st wedding anniversary, and Robin invites his German friend Franz Wasserman (Dennis Waterman), a fellow cookery student, to come along.
Robin's friend Larry (Doug Fisher) moves into the flat but his slovenly ways and habit of pinching the others' food are not exactly endearing him as a house-mate.
When the Ropers receive a compulsory purchase order from the council who wanted to knock down their house to make room for a flyover in 1976, they moved to 46 Peacock Crescent, Hampton Wick, next door to the Fourmile family: Jeffrey (Norman Eshley) Ann (Sheila Fearn), Tristram (Nicholas Bond-Owen) and later, baby Tarquin (Simon Lloyd).
When the Fourmiles go on holiday to Scotland, Mildred is given the key to their house so she can water their plants, but George abuses this by going in to watch the couple's superior colour television.
Meanwhile, Jeffrey, Ann and Tristram get back from a golfing holiday to find they have been burgled, and one of the missing items is a carriage clock.
Later on, initially opposed to George's idea of taking in a lodger to make more money, Mildred changes her mind when the charming salesman Edward Rogers (Derek Waring) turns up to rent their back bedroom for a month.
Ethel and Humphrey arrive for the evening of the performance, but by then, Mildred has fallen ill and lost her voice leaving George to take her place.
In September 1978, Mildred is thrilled to get a letter from Lee Kennedy, an American ex-airman with whom she had a wartime fling during her time working at the airbase, who is visiting England and wants to see her again.
In November 1978, Mildred wants a new Hollywood-style bathroom shower but the professionals' quotes are too pricey for penny-pinching George, so he gets his dodgy friend Jerry to do the installation.
Shortly after, Mildred goes into hospital with suspected appendicitis so kindly Ann, to Jeffrey's annoyance, has George round for dinner.
When Ann accidentally lets slip that the Keep Fit class has finished George suspects Mildred of having an affair and, taking advice from Jeffrey, attempts to be more romantic with her.
Browsing through 'Country Life', Ethel sees a photo of a Ming dynasty china horse worth ten thousand pounds.
A jealous George chats up widowed barmaid Beryl, telling her he is single and arranging to meet with her on the night of the dance whilst he is alone in the house.
The Ropers go to bed and, whilst Mildred declares that she loves George for all his faults, his response is less assured - he calls her Beryl.
By the time he comes to remember, he books a table at the restaurant where he first proposed to Mildred but to his horror, he discovers on arrival that it has been turned into a greasy spoon café run by Hell's Angels-style bikers.
But on arrival, George is mistaken for a ruthless hit-man by a shady businessman (Stratford Johns), who wants a rival eliminated.
In George and Mildred she makes friends with her neighbour Ann Fourmile (Fearn), who is married to the snobbish Jeffrey (Eshley).
When Ann gave birth to Tarquin in series three, Mildred thinks of adopting a child, and George agrees (providing the baby is not black).
Upon the death in 1980 of Yootha Joyce, who had played Mildred, Thames Television did talk of producing a spin-off for the character of George, looking at him cope with life as a widower.