George Edward Cole (born April 22, 1925 in Tooting, London, England) is an English actor.

In an interview included in the 2007 DVD release of A Christmas Carol he recounts that he was given up for adoption at the age of ten days, and adopted by Mr. and Mrs. George Cole. He grew up with a strong cockney accent that hindered his early performing career.

He began appearing in films in the early 1940s, debuting in the 1941 film Cottage to Let and his career was interrupted by service in the Royal Air Force from 1944 to 1947. He became familiar to audiences in British comedy films in the 1950s, but later became a respected character actor on television.

Cole acted opposite Sir Laurence Olivier in The Demi-Paradise (1943) and Olivier's film of Henry V (1944)

He attributes his career to the great British comedy stage and film actor Alastair Sim who became his mentor, and with whom Cole appears from his earliest days. Cole made a total of 11 film appearances alongside Sim, ending with the somewhat obscure independent film The Anatomist (1961).

Cole appeared in Scrooge with Sim (as the young Scrooge) in 1951, but his best known film role was as "Flash Harry" in the St Trinian's films (two of which also star Sim).

During the 60s and 70s he played numerous character parts on British television, usually as a disturbed and/or pathetic villain or victim. The TV series he appeared in included Gideon's Way ('The Firebug', 1965), Out of the Unknown ('The Last Lonely Man', 1969) and Menace ('Killing Time', 1970).

His most memorable TV role was as crooked used car dealer Arthur Daley in the TV series Minder (1979-94). The character became synonymous with the down-at-heel side of 80s capitalism (along with Del Trotter of Only Fools and Horses). Cole played a similar character in late 1980s / early 1990's TV advertisements for the Leeds Permanent Building Society who was "Laughing all the way to The Leeds".

In 1995/6 he starred as businessman - councillor Freddie Patterson in An Independent Man. He also starred as Brian Hook in the BBC Comedy Dad in the late 1990s alongside Kevin McNally, who played his son, Alan Hook. He played Henry Root in the TV series Root Into Europe.

He is able to hide his London accent when playing upper-class characters, such as Sir Giles Lynchwood in the TV adaptation of Tom Sharpe's novel Blott on the Landscape. Recently he was announced to play the leading role in Kevin Tate's The Story of Carl Veart, a new 6 part ITV Series. Cole recently appeared in the BBC drama A Class Apart, in which he played a grandfather who encourages his impoverished daughter keep her son on the straight and narrow by means of a public school bursary (part of the Winter/Spring 2007 seasonhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/12_december/07/bbcone_drama.shtml#class), and The Dinner Party, broadcast in September 2007.

He was married first to Eileen Moore, an actress and subsequently to Penny Morrell, in 1964, with whom he has two children.

George Cole was the head football coach at Arkansas in 1942. In his only season, he compiled a 3-7 record. After 1942, he left Arkansas to serve in World War II. He returned to Arkansas following the war as an assistant coach. In 1957, he served as the school's assistant athletic director, and in 1970, he was finally promoted to athletic director.

He played football and baseball at Arkansas. In 1927, he was selected to the All-Southwest-Conference. During the 1927 season, he broke the school's single season scoring record, which stood until 1965. During his career, he scored 185 points, scoring 22 touchdowns, and making 7 field goals.

He was selected to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1963, and in 1974, he was selected to the Collegiate athletic directors Hall of Fame.

George Cole has had an impressive career both in television and in film. His acting talents, however, have gone largely unsung. Which is a great shame, for he is responsible for creating one of the most endearing characters of recent times on British television. The character is of course "Arthur Daley", the shifty but very likable ducking and diving "business man" in the long lived ITV drama series "Minder" (1979). As a result of this character, the term "Arthur Daley" soon entered the every day English language as slang for a "dodgy" misdemeanor or task, and the series enabled George Cole to become a household name. "Minder"'s Arthur Daley was the only true rival to the BBC's "Delboy Trotter" from "Only Fools and Horses" (1981) and they often contended head to head in television ratings. Sometimes "Minder" won, sometimes "Only Fools and Horses" won, but "Minder" was a drama, whereas "Only Fools and Horses" was a sitcom, which allowed the two shows and characters to exist side by side very happily indeed. Before "Minder", George featured in countless films and television programmes, becoming a regular and much loved face on British television. Following on from "Minder", he still regularly appeared on television, although it seems he favors a more relaxed approach to acting these days probably because he has semi-retired from this business they call show business! It is a shame that he will probably be remembered only for "Arthur Daley", because George Cole should be remembered for being not only a fine actor, skillful at playing both straight and comedic roles, but also as an extremely likable charismatic man.