Edna Doré Dead at 92

Edna Doré (left) as Mo Butcher with Pat Coombs as Marge Green in
EASTENDERS in 1989. Photograph: BBC

Character actor Edna Doré has died at age 92. She was best known for playing battle-axe Mo Butcher, mother of Mike Reid's character, Frank Butcher, in the BBC's long-running soap EASTENDERS.

In addition to appearing in EASTENEDERS between 1988 and 1990, Doré starred as a woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease in Mike Leigh's 1988 film High Hopes. Her performance earned her the award for Best Supporting Performance at the 1989 European Film Awards. At the ceremony in Paris, she was called to the stage as "Edna Door". As she left clutching her prize she muttered (all too audibly): "You'd think that at least in Paris they'd pronounce my bloody name right."