George Edward Cole OBE 22 April 1925 5 August 2015 was an English film and television actor with a career which ran from the 1940s to the first decade of the twenty first century Best known in the role of Arthur Daley in the longrunning ITV hit drama show Minder Coles career began in the role of the young evacuee in the wartime thriller Cottage to Let alongside longtime friend Alastair Sim and went onto to encompass over 40 movies including the popular St Trinians films and a host of television roles