Birthday profile

Shirley Cheriton

Shirley Cheriton, British actress

Born
June 28, 1955
Age in 2026
71
Zodiac sign
Cancer
Birth year
1955

About Shirley Cheriton

Shirley Cheriton (born 28 June 1955) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Debbie Wilkins in the BBC soap opera EastEnders and her portrayal of Miss Prescott in the Are You Being Served? follow up, Grace & Favour. She played Pat a pupil in series 6 of Please Sir. Cheriton was born in London. Her EastEnders role ran from her arrival in the Square in March 1985 until her departure with Detective Terry Rich (Gary Whelan) in May 1987. Her character was Walford's original middle-class yuppie, as well as for her stormy relationship with the Scottish nurse, Andy O'Brien (Ross Davidson). Cheriton left her first husband for Davidson, but ended their relationship after five years. Other television credits include Angels, in which she played Katy Betts/Smart in one of EastEnders creator Julia Smith's earlier projects and M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team in 2003. She also appeared as schoolgirl Pat in 3 episodes of Please Sir! in 1971, and as Naomi Grant in the 1977 ATV TV series Raven, opposite Phil Daniels. Her other TV appearances included roles in Granada Television's Crown Court in 1974, in The Woman Least Likely, the 1974 TV series Rooms, 2 episodes of Softly, Softly: Task Force in 1975, the Special Offer episode of the 1976 horror anthology series Beasts, the 1978 miniseries Will Shakespeare, and episodes of The Cuckoo Waltz, Sykes, Three Up, Two Down, and FM.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Shirley Cheriton was born

Shirley Cheriton was born in 1955. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1955

  • #1 song"Rock Around the Clock" – Bill Haley & His Comets
  • Top movieMarty
  • Top TV showThe $64,000 Question
  • Best-selling bookLolita – Vladimir Nabokov

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentBrooklyn Dodgers win their first World Series
  • Top headlineRosa Parks sparks the Montgomery Bus Boycott
  • Technology milestoneDisneyland opens in Anaheim, California
  • Defining fadJames Dean and rebel culture
  • Notable inventionVelcro commercially available
  • World population2.77 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderDwight D. Eisenhower
  • Sports championBrooklyn Dodgers (World Series)
  • Also wonSyracuse Nationals (NBA)
  • U.S. population165.3M

1955 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Shirley Cheriton's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19552026
Gas$0.29$3.45/gal
Average home$10,950$435,000
Average income$6,200$67,500
Minimum wage$0.75$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.50$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population165.3M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.