Shirley Rosemary Stelfox (born 11th April 1941 in Dukinfield, Cheshire, died 7th December 2015 in Nottinghamshire) was an English actress who portrayed the hat-wearing and devoutly religious Edna Birch in Emmerdale from May 2000 to October 2015.
She was the youngest of three children. Despite being diagnosed with bilateral amblyopia, a condition that made reading small print difficult, she set her sights on acting at an early age. She attended Lakes Road Secondary School whilst performing in amateur dramatic groups and in pantomimes at the Old Chapel in Dukinfield. She made her film debut in David Lean's Hobson's Choice in 1954 at the age of thirteen. She later attended The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Throughout the 1970s she performed on stage in a number of roles which included, Regan in King Lear in 1972, She then portrayed Lady Macbeth in 1973, Yelena in Uncle Vanya in 1974 and Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1978.
She was delighted to be cast in Debbie Horsfield's Making Out from 1989 to 1991, an ensemble piece about a group of female factory workers, telling stories against a backdrop of unemployment and economic strife. Stelfox also formed a production company with her co-star, Margi Clarke, and actor Rio Fanning.
She is also known for playing the first Rose in the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. Stelfox was later replaced by the late Mary Millar. She also appeared in a vast number of other shows including Juliet Bravo, Coronation Street, The Bill and Crossroads. Stelfox also portrayed Jane Healy, Melanie Healy's mother, in an episode of EastEnders, and as the mother of Julie Walters and the late Victoria Wood in the television film Pat and Margaret.
Stelfox was married to Keith Edmundson for three years. She had a daughter, Helena, from this marriage and while she was appearing in an episode of the series Strangers in 1978, she met her second husband Don Henderson they later married until his sudden death from throat cancer in 1997.
She died on 7th December 2015, aged 74, four weeks after she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.