# Kenneth Cope
**Kenneth Cope** (Kenneth Charles Cope; 14 April 1931 – 11 September 2024) was an English actor and scriptwriter best known for playing the ghost private detective Marty Hopkirk in *Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)*, the street trader Jed Stone in *Coronation Street*, and Ray Hilton in *Brookside*.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary) Over a career of roughly six decades he also took leading roles in two [Carry On](https://www.edgepedia.org/carry-on-franchise) films, wrote for television comedy, and ran two restaurants in [Oxfordshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/oxfordshire).[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0178560/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | 14 April 1931, Wavertree, Liverpool; 11 September 2024, Southport, aged 93[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary) |
| Signature role | Marty Hopkirk, the murdered detective who returns as a ghost, in *Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)* (ITC for ITV, 1969–70), a cult series of 26 episodes sold in more than 30 territories[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary) |
| Soap roles | Jed Stone in *Coronation Street* (1961–66, returning in 2008 after a 42-year gap); Ray Hilton in *Brookside* (1999–2002)[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary) |
| Carry On films | Vic Spanner in *Carry On at Your Convenience* (1971); Cyril Carter in *Carry On Matron* (1972)[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0178560/) |
| Satire | Ensemble member of the BBC's *That Was The Week That Was* (1962–63), two series of 37 shows[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary) |
| Writing | Three series of the children's football drama *Striker* (1975–76); scripts for *The Squirrels* (1974–76) and *A Sharp Intake of Breath* (1978–81)[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary) |
| Family | Married actress Renny Lister in 1961; three children, Martha, Nick, and Mark[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary) |
## Early life and training
Cope was born in Wavertree, Liverpool, one of five children of an engineer. At age 15, Cope dropped out of Holt high school and trained as a toolmaker apprentice for three years, then in 1950 earned a scholarship to the [Bristol Old Vic](https://www.edgepedia.org/bristol-old-vic) theater school.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary) On graduating he joined the Bristol Old Vic company, then led by John Neville, appearing in *Measure for Measure* and *Henry V*, the latter also on tour.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary)
By 1953 he was a television regular in programs such as *Billy Bunter*, *Dixon of Dock Green*, and *Ivanhoe*, and in 1956 he played the eager young English teacher F. D. Price-Whittaker in the first series of *Whack-O!*, the school comedy scripted by Frank Muir and Denis Norden and starring Jimmy Edwards.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary) His film work in the 1950s and 1960s included *Dunkirk* (1958), *These Are the Damned* (1962), and the role of the Mongol general Subutai in the international production *Genghis Khan* (1965) opposite [Omar Sharif](https://www.edgepedia.org/omar-sharif).[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0178560/)
## Television fame
**Jed Stone.** Cope's breakthrough came as Jed Stone, a thief and charmer who became the lodger and occasional friend of Minnie Caldwell in *Coronation Street*. The part was not intended to be recurring, but viewers took to him and the writers built new storylines around him; he appeared in more than 100 episodes between 1961 and 1966, leaving when the character went to prison.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary) • [3](https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/scotsman-obituaries-kenneth-cope-british-actor-who-became-best-known-as-a-ghost-in-randall-and-hopkirk-deceased-4790455) His popularity in the role was such that he was invited to become a member of the Belfast branch of the National Market Traders' Federation in January 1963.[4](https://coronationstreet.fandom.com/wiki/Kenneth_Cope)
**That Was The Week That Was.** While playing Jed Stone, Cope also appeared in the BBC's Saturday-night satire show *That Was The Week That Was* (TW3), hosted by [David Frost](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-frost) and produced by [Ned Sherrin](https://www.edgepedia.org/ned-sherrin), which ran for two series of 37 shows in 1962 and 1963. With [Willie Rushton](https://www.edgepedia.org/willie-rushton), Roy Kinnear, and Al Mancini he supplied the sketch acting and comic timing behind the program's attacks on officialdom and snobbery.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary)
**Marty Hopkirk.** In 1969 Cope took the role that made him most famous: Marty Hopkirk in *Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)*, an ITC production for ITV in which his detective is killed by a hit-and-run driver in the first episode and returns as a ghost, visible only to his partner Jeff Randall (Mike Pratt), to help solve his own murder. Cope wore a white suit and wig for the part. The series ran to 26 episodes in 1969 and 1970 and became a cult favorite, sold in more than 30 territories; in the United States it was shown as *My Partner the Ghost*.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary) • [5](https://www.itv.com/news/2024-09-12/kenneth-cope-coronation-street-and-carry-on-star-dies-aged-93) Cope declined a cameo in the 2000 remake starring Vic Reeves and [Bob Mortimer](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-mortimer), though he wished the new cast well on the series one DVD.[6](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/kenneth-cope)
## Carry On films and later work
Cope played two leading roles in the Carry On series: the obnoxious shop steward Vic Spanner in *Carry On at Your Convenience* (1971), set amid a cartoon version of industrial relations, and Cyril Carter in *Carry On Matron* (1972), the son of [Sid James](https://www.edgepedia.org/sid-james)'s character, forced to dress as a nurse as part of a plot to steal contraceptive pills from a maternity hospital.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary) He also appeared uncredited in *Carry On Jack* (1963), though in a 2019 interview he denied having been in the film at all.[7](https://www.retroboy.co.uk/interview-with-Kenneth-Cope-2019)
**Writing and other roles.** Away from acting he wrote the inaugural sitcom *Thingumybob* (1968) for the new [London Weekend Television](https://www.edgepedia.org/london-weekend-television) franchise, with a theme tune by [Paul McCartney](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-mccartney), and contributed episodes to *The Dustbinmen*, *The Squirrels*, and *A Sharp Intake of Breath*.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary) In 1975–76 he wrote three series of the BBC children's football drama *Striker*, inspired by the youth team in Islip, Oxfordshire, where he then lived.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary) • [6](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/kenneth-cope) His acting credits through the 1970s and 1980s included *Doctor Who* (as Packard in the 1981 story *Warriors' Gate*), *Minder*, *Lovejoy*, *Casualty*, *The Bill*, and *Kavanagh QC*, and he starred in the short-lived sitcom *Bootle Saddles* (1984), which lasted one series.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary) From 1999 to 2002 he played the widower Ray Hilton in the Liverpool-set soap *Brookside*.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary)
## Restaurants and final years
After moving to Oxfordshire in the 1970s, Cope and his wife Renny Lister, whom he had married in 1961 after she joined him on *Coronation Street* as his character's girlfriend, opened two restaurants: Martha's Kitchen in Watlington, named after their daughter, and Edwards in Eynsham, named after their second son. He offered a free bottle of wine to any Equity member who visited, and recalled [Laurence Olivier](https://www.edgepedia.org/laurence-olivier) leaving one evening with a bottle of Frascati under his arm.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary)
In 2000 he was mistakenly diagnosed with lung cancer when he in fact had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; he later said he had spent six years living under what he called a false death sentence.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary) • [3](https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/scotsman-obituaries-kenneth-cope-british-actor-who-became-best-known-as-a-ghost-in-randall-and-hopkirk-deceased-4790455) He returned to *Coronation Street* as an elderly Jed Stone in 2008 after a 42-year absence, in a storyline in which the character was assaulted and left for dead but survived; it was his final acting appearance.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary) • [6](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/kenneth-cope) He spent his last years in [Southport](https://www.edgepedia.org/southport), where he wrote a column for the local *Visitor* newspaper.[4](https://coronationstreet.fandom.com/wiki/Kenneth_Cope)
Cope died on 11 September 2024, aged 93, peacefully in his sleep with his wife and family at his side, according to a statement from his family issued through his former agent Sandra Chalmers of the Artists Partnership.[5](https://www.itv.com/news/2024-09-12/kenneth-cope-coronation-street-and-carry-on-star-dies-aged-93) His family described him as "an incredible icon of British TV and film" and "a natural comedy actor".[5](https://www.itv.com/news/2024-09-12/kenneth-cope-coronation-street-and-carry-on-star-dies-aged-93) He was survived by his wife and their three children.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary)
## References
1. [Kenneth Cope obituary, The Guardian (Michael Coveney, 12 September 2024)](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/sep/12/kenneth-cope-obituary)
2. [Kenneth Cope, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0178560/)
3. [Scotsman Obituaries: Kenneth Cope (Brian Pendreigh, 21 September 2024)](https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/scotsman-obituaries-kenneth-cope-british-actor-who-became-best-known-as-a-ghost-in-randall-and-hopkirk-deceased-4790455)
4. [Kenneth Cope, Coronation Street Wiki (Fandom)](https://coronationstreet.fandom.com/wiki/Kenneth_Cope)
5. [Coronation Street and Carry On star Kenneth Cope dies aged 93, ITV News (12 September 2024)](https://www.itv.com/news/2024-09-12/kenneth-cope-coronation-street-and-carry-on-star-dies-aged-93)
6. [Kenneth Cope Movies on Netflix, NetflixMovies.com](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/kenneth-cope)
7. [Interview with Kenneth Cope (2019), Retroboy](https://www.retroboy.co.uk/interview-with-Kenneth-Cope-2019)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › English actors: 1940s to 1960s › Surnames A to E*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license