Sheila Hancock

Sheila Cameron Hancock OBE (born 22 February 1933) is an English actress, known primarily for her comic performances.

Early life and career

Hancock was born in Blackgang on the Isle of Wight, the daughter of Ivy Louise (née Woodward) and Enrico Cameron Hancock,^[1] who was a publican. Her sister Billie is 7 years older, and worked as a variety artist until retiring to Antibes in 2003 at the age of 79.^[2] Sheila attended Dartford County Grammar School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She then joined Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop, and has since appeared in over 40 films, mostly television releases.

Big-screen roles include Carry On Cleo (1964), The Anniversary (1968), Take a Girl Like You (1970), Buster (1988) and Three Men and a Little Lady (1990).

She made her West End debut in 1958, replacing Joan Sims in the play Breath of Spring and her other early appearances included the revue One Over the Eight with Kenneth Williams. She has also worked in straight plays with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and at the Royal Court Theatre.

In 1978, she appeared as Miss Hannigan in the original London cast of the musical Annie (her performance of which can be heard on the original London cast album). Two years later, she played Mrs Lovett in the original London production of the Stephen Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd.

From October 2006 to April 2007, she played the role of Fraulein Schneider in the West End revival of the musical Cabaret at the Lyric Theatre. In 2007, she won a Laurence Olivier Award, as "Best Performance in a Supporting Role In A Musical" for the part. As of May 2009 she is starring as Mother Superior in Sister Act the Musical at the London Palladium.

Her first big television role was Carol in the BBC sitcom The Rag Trade in the early 1960s. From 1965 to 1966, she appeared in the lead role in The Bed-Sit Girl, created for her by Chesney and Wolfe.^[3]

Other television series she has participated in include Have I Got News For You, Room 101, Doctor Who, Kavanagh QC (opposite her husband), Call My Bluff and EastEnders, where she played Barbara Owen.

In September 2006 she played the sister of the well-known character Joannie "Nan" Taylor, from The Catherine Tate Show, and she was a regular contributor to the BBC2 series Grumpy Old Women.

On radio, she has also made numerous appearances on the popular, long-running BBC Radio 4 panel game Just a Minute since 1967, featuring in the 35th Anniversary Show on New Year's Day 2003 alongside Paul Merton, Clement Freud and Graham Norton.^[4]

Hancock was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2002, for her role in The Russian Bride; and again in 2003 for her role in the TV comedy series Bedtime.

On 25 August 2008, she played the part of a terminally ill patient who's travelled to Switzerland to have an assisted suicide in the BBC programme The Last Word Monologues. She most recently starred in the critically acclaimed 2008 film The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

In May 2009, Hancock played Liz in The Rain Has Stopped, part of the BBC drama miniseries Moving On.

Personal life

Hancock was married to actor Alec Ross from 1954 until his death from cancer in 1971. They had one daughter, Melanie Thaw, born in 1964. In 1973 Hancock married actor John Thaw. He adopted Melanie, and they had another daughter, Joanna, as well as including his daughter Abigail Thaw (from his first marriage) in their family (evidence: her book The Two of Us). All three of their children have become actresses. She was married to Thaw until his death from oesophageal cancer on 21 February 2002. Hancock herself was ill with breast cancer during the 1990s, but made a full recovery. Her 2004 book, The Two of Us: My Life with John Thaw is a dual biography, which gives accounts of both their lives, as well as focusing on their 28-year marriage. This was followed by the 2008 book, Just Me, an account of coming to terms with widowhood.

She is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and a patron of the London HIV charity, The Food Chain. On 16 May 2007, Hancock was appointed chancellor of the University of Portsmouth.^[5]

References

External links

• Sheila Hancock at the Internet Movie Database
• Sheila Hancock on Who Do You Think You Are?