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Julie Dawn Cole

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Julie Dawn Cole
Cole in 2017
Born (1957-10-26) 26 October 1957 (age 67)
Guildford, Surrey, England
OccupationActress
Years active
  • 1970–2013 (Actress)
  • 2007–present (Psychotherapist)
Known for
Veruca Salt in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Arabella in ...And Mother Makes Three (1971–73)
Jo Longhurst in Angels (1975–76)
Rowella in Poldark (1977)
Lucy Deane in The Mill on the Floss (1978)
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1991; div. 2002)​
Children2

Julie Dawn Cole (born 26 October 1957) is an English actress. She began her career as a child performer in the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, playing Veruca Salt.

Career

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Raised in Guildford, Surrey, Cole was twelve when she was cast in the supporting role during the project's pre-production phase in the first half of 1970, which was filmed at the Bavaria Film Studios.

The film debuted in New York City on 30 June 1971 and in London the following week, and Cole was chosen to present a bouquet of flowers to Princess Margaret at the Royal Premiere. She and Willy Wonka's other pre-adolescent "leading lady", American Denise Nickerson (Violet Beauregarde), both had crushes on Peter Ostrum (Charlie Bucket), also an American, and alternated days spending time with him while there were breaks in filming.[1] The "I Want It Now" sequence was filmed on her 13th birthday and Cole was given three film props: a golden egg prop, a golden ticket, and an Everlasting Gobstopper. Although Cole actually sang the song "I Want It Now", she recorded her vocals in a music studio on a separate session and mimed to the track during filming. Cole has stated that her character in the film was based on a girl who attended the same boarding school she did.

Following the filming of the movie, Cole kept the Golden Ticket prop, along with the accompanying Wonka bar prop. She later gave it to her friend Linda Carr. On 17 July 2019, both props were sold at auction for upwards of £15,000.[2] The auction itself is shown in BBC Bargain Hunt Series 54, Ardingly 19. The auctioneer was Catherine Southon.

After Willy Wonka

Immediately after returning from Willy Wonka, Cole was cast in a re-occurring role on the ITV sitcom, ...And Mother Makes Three, in which she played Arabella, a stuck up and snobbish teenaged girl.[3] After the success of the show, Cole continued to have a series of steady job offers.

From 1971 to 1974 she acted in several TV series, and was often cast as a 'bad girl': in an episode of ITV series Saturday Night Theatre she played a delinquent who broke into a house; and a juvenile offender in an episode of prison drama series Within These Walls. Occasionally she was cast in other moulds, on an episode of the Orson Welles' Great Mysteries series, she played a murder victim.

She made her next theatrical appearance in British-German comedy film That Lucky Touch, opposite Roger Moore. In this film she played the daughter of the characters played by Shelley Winters and Lee J. Cobb. Julie also found recognition playing Alice (from Alice In Wonderland) in a two-minute Christmas commercial for Woolworths.

In 1975, Cole got her breakout role being cast as one of the leading characters in BBC medical drama Angels. Breaking the bad-girl mould, she played Jo Longhurst, a second-year student nurse. Her character was known for her compassion, kind nature, advocacy for patients, and challenging authority when it was questionable. Production of the show began in February 1975, and episodes started to air in September of that same year. Cole's run on the show lasted three years.

In 1976, Cole joined the cast of the costume drama Poldark for its second season. Reverting to her bad-girl mould, Cole played the salacious and lecherous Rowella Chynoweth, who engages in an affair with her brother-in-law (played by Christopher Biggins). Poldark was immensely popular and garnered much attention for its romantic, and at times racy, plot lines.

Her other credits include the Children's Film Foundation film Paganini Strikes Again (1973), a 1982 episode of Tales of the Unexpected ("The Skeleton Key"), and the 1984 TV film of Camille, starring Greta Scacchi and Colin Firth. She featured as 'Robot 35' in the CBBC comedy Galloping Galaxies!.

She has a number of theatrical credits as well as pantomime and voice-over work. Cole has appeared on radio in BBC Radio 2 broadcasts of British panto, including the 26 December 1979 broadcast of Puss in Boots as "Princess Rosepetal",[4] as "Jill" in the 25 December 1981 broadcast of Mother Goose,[5] and as "Alice" in the 27 December 1982 broadcast of Dick Whittington.[6]

As of 2001, Cole works as a psychotherapist.[7]

After qualifying in 1998 as a fitness instructor, she worked in the 2000s on various projects, including the 2005 ITV series Fat Families as fitness advisor to one of the title families. In 2006, she was seen on the soap opera Emmerdale.

In 2004, Cole guest-starred in a Melbourne Comedy Festival show, Willy Wonka Explained (The Search for Veruca Salt).[8] This led to Cole co-starring in the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe show, Willy Wonka Revisited: The Veruca Salt Sessions, where she plays a semi-fictional version of herself discussing Veruca, life, and obsessive fans with her unseen therapist, while her co-star plays an Australian fan describing his obsession with Veruca to his unseen therapist.

In 2016, Cole released the book I Want It Now!, a memoir about her time filming Willy Wonka.[9]

Personal life

Cole met actor Nick Wilton in 1988, at the revival of the Whitehall farce Dry Rot. They married in 1991 and have two children together; they divorced in 2002.[10]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1971 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Veruca Salt
1971–1972 ...And Mother Makes Three Arabella 5 episodes
1973 Paganini Strikes Again Nichola
ITV Sunday Night Theatre Helen Episode: "The Intruders"
Orson Welles' Great Mysteries Vera May Barton Episode: "In the Confessional"
1974 My Old Man Judy 1 episode
CBS Children's Film Festival Nicola Episode: "Paganini Strikes Again"
Living at Thamesmead Sally Short film
1975 That Lucky Touch Tina Steedman
Within These Walls Gillian Parr Episode: "My Dad Was Called Charlie"
1975–1976 Angels Jo Longhurst 28 episodes
1977 Poldark Rowella Solway 6 episodes
1977–1978 The Many Wives of Patrick Madeline Woodford 4 episodes
1978 People Like Us Hilda Gittens TV Mini-series
Episode: "The First Lessons in Love"
1978, 2006 Emmerdale Pip Coulter (1978), Barbara Hope (2006) Two roles; 14 episodes
1979 The Mill on the Floss Lucy Deane 5 episodes
Dick Turpin Phylida Episode: "The Hero"
1980 Bernie — 1 episode
Company and Co Tina Clegg Episode: "Watch the Birdie"
The Jim Davidson Show Guest 2 episodes
Rings on Their Fingers Pauline Episode: "Ladies Man"
Grundy Sharon 6 episodes
1982 Tales of the Unexpected Emma Episode: "The Skeleton Key"
Kelly Monteith Guest 1 episode
1984 Camille Julie
1985 Up the Elephant and Round the Castle Sue Brent Episode: "Wakey Wakey"
Terry and June Lola Episode: "Unfaithfully Yours"
1985–1986 Galloping Galaxies! Robot 35 2 episodes
1987 Tandoori Nights Sandra Episode: "The Captains and the Kings Depart"
1987–2013 Casualty Audrey Leavers, Lucy Roland, Jenny, Annie 4 episodes
1989 Bergerac Reporter Episode: "The Other Woman"
1991 EastEnders Geraldine 2 episodes
1992 Moon and Son Young Housewife Episode: "The Chinese Medicine Man"
Mr. Wakefield's Crusade Marion (voice) 1 episode
WYSIWYG Maz 5 episodes
The Upper Hand Lyn 2 episodes
1995 The Politician's Wife Angie TV Mini-series
2 episodes
1996 How to Be a Little Sod Mother's Friend Episode: "Don't Forget the Kitchen Sink"
Married for Life Judy Hollingsworth 6 episodes
1998 Animal Ark Sylvia Greenaway Episode: "Donkey on the Doorstep"
Noah's Ark Pam Fisher Episode: "Killing Time"
2001 Doctors Stella Jordan Episode: "Mum's the Word"
2003 Down to Earth Jean Episode: "All Together Now"
Fortysomething Stella 1 episode
2004 The Second Quest Mrs. Biggs Television film
2006 Angel Cake Judith
2012–2013 Holby City Pam Feeny 2 episodes

References

  1. ^ "Julie Dawn Cole". IMDb.. IMDb
  2. ^ "Wonka bar and Golden Ticket fetch £15,000 at auction". BBC News. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2021..
  3. ^ Sorren, Martha (1 July 2022). "Then and Now: The cast of 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' 50 years later". Insider. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  4. ^ Guide, British Comedy. "Puss-In-Boots - Radio 2 Comedy - British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide.
  5. ^ Emmett, Chris (3 November 2011). Mother Goose. BBC Physical Audio. ASIN 1408469618.
  6. ^ "Dick Whittington" – via Amazon.
  7. ^ "On The Cover: Julie Dawn Cole of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". Celebrity Parents. 7 June 2011. Archived from the original on 18 November 2017.
  8. ^ "'Salt' sweetens up festival". The Age. 31 March 2004.
  9. ^ Nolasco, Stephanie (28 January 2019). "'Willy Wonka' star Julie Dawn Cole reveals what it was really like working with Gene Wilder, being Veruca Salt". Fox News. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  10. ^ Eames, Tom (19 April 2019). "Here's where the kids from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory are now". Smooth Radio.
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