Actress
Julie Dawn Cole was twelve when she was cast in the iconic role of Veruca Salt, during the pre-production phase of Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, in the first half of 1970 (she celebrated her 13th birthday eight weeks into the film’s 11½-week filming schedule in Southern Germany’s sprawling production complex, on the day she performed her song “I Want It Now”). The film debuted in New York on 30 June 1971 and in London the following week, with Julie chosen to present a bouquet of flowers to Princess Margaret at the Royal Premiere.
The film tells the story of Charlie Bucket as he receives a golden ticket and visits Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory with four other children from around the world. Veruca Salt was the obnoxious little girl that wanted everything now !!!!
After Wonka, Julie played trainee nurse Jo Longhurst in the first season of the British drama Angels, in the mid-1970s. Other credits include a 1982 episode of Tales of the Unexpected.
In the mid 1970s Cole appeared on episodes of the Dutch produced detective show Van Der Valk starring Barry Foster.
In the second season of Poldark, in 1977, Julie played 15-year-old seductress Rowella Chynoweth, seducing her sister’s portly husband. In 2002 she developed Centrestage, a children’s acting drama school.
During her long career, she has accumulated a number of theatrical credits as well as some pantomime and voice-over work. After qualifying in 1998 as a fitness instructor, Julie has been working on various projects, including the 2005 ITV series Fat Families, as fitness advisor to one of the title families. In 2006, she was seen on the Emmerdale, as Bob Hope’s estranged wife.
In August 2010 Julie co-starred in an Edinburgh Fringe show entitled Willy Wonka Revisted: The Veruca Salt Sessions where she plays a semi-fictional version of herself discussing Veruca, life, and obsessive fans with her unseen therapist…while her co-star plays an Australian fan describing his obsession with Veruca to his unseen therapist.