Episode 1 Poor Old Reg" 19 February 1985 (1985-02-19)
Last appearance
7 September 2000
Classification
Former; regular
Created by
Julia Smith and Tony Holland
Introduced by
Julia Smith (1985)
Leonard Lewis (1993)
Barbara Emile (1994)
Jane Harris (1997)
John Yorke (2000)
Book appearances
The Flower of Albert Square
Spin-off appearances
"CivvyStreet" (1988)
In-universe information
Occupation
Cleaner Fortune teller
Brothers
Howard Lewis
Sisters
Trish Lewis
Husband
William Skinner (backstory)
Other relatives
Eddie Skinner Kerry Skinner
Ethel May Skinner is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Gretchen Franklin. Ethel also features in a 1988 EastEnders special episode, entitled "CivvyStreet", set on Albert Square during World War II, in which she is played by Alison Bettles.
Ethel is an EastEnders original character and in the early years she can always be found wandering the neighbourhood with her adored pug Willy. She and Dot Cotton (June Brown) are lifelong friends, and although they wind each other up, they are completely dependent on each other. Ethel trusts Dot so much that she even asks her to help her die in 2000 after she is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Ethel May Skinner is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Gretchen Franklin. Ethel also features in a 1988 EastEnders special...
70 years. She was born in Covent Garden, Central London. She played EthelSkinner in the long-running BBC 1 soap opera EastEnders on a regular basis from...
program I Love Lucy Ethel Mertz, a character from The Howard Stern Show EthelSkinner, a character in the British soap opera EastEnders Ethel Sprocket, a character...
memories of East End residents she met when researching Victorian squares. EthelSkinner was based on an old woman she met in a pub, with ill-fitting false teeth...
Fowler (Wendy Richard), and was close friends with original characters EthelSkinner (Gretchen Franklin) and Lou Beale (Anna Wing). Dot moved away with her...
until 1998. She makes a further appearance in 2000 for the funeral of EthelSkinner (Gretchen Franklin). She moves in with the Fowlers in early 1994, and...
life of some of EastEnders' senior residents. Bettles played a young EthelSkinner. Among Bettles' other credits are: ITV's police drama The Bill (1988)...
family for their support. 12 2 July 1987 Dot Cotton (June Brown) and EthelSkinner (Gretchen Franklin) reminisce about life in the war in the first of...
Beale Chase Marks as Ronnie Beale Alison Bettles as EthelSkinner Ian Brimble as William Skinner Otto Jarman as Richard Julian Wild as Marty Robert Putt...
Slater (Michelle Ryan) and the great-niece of the recently killed off EthelSkinner (Gretchen Franklin), and also the girlfriend of long-serving character...
of Pauline Fowler from 1993 to 1998, returning briefly in 2000 for EthelSkinner's funeral. Since leaving EastEnders she has appeared in episodes of The...
maintain his surgery in Albert Square, renting the flat upstairs to EthelSkinner (Gretchen Franklin) and the barman Lofty Holloway (Tom Watt) among an...
Raymond Roberta Taylor 1997–2000 Jeff Healy Leslie Schofield 1997–2000 EthelSkinner Gretchen Franklin 1985–1997, 2000 Nellie Ellis Elizabeth Kelly 1993–1998...
episodes he scripted are those featuring the deaths of Arthur Fowler and EthelSkinner; the "Sharongate" storyline; and more recently Kat's revelation to Zoe...
she sees fit. She is great friends with Dot Cotton (June Brown) and EthelSkinner (Gretchen Franklin), her lifelong neighbours. She also has a good relationship...
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