1. Dame Sheila Cameron Hancock was born on 22 February 1933 and is an English actress, singer, and author.
40 Facts About Sheila Hancock
1. 2.
Sheila Hancock has performed in both plays and musicals in London's theatre scene, and her Broadway debut in Entertaining Mr Sloane earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Play.
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Sheila Hancock won a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical for her role in Cabaret and was nominated at the Laurence Olivier Awards five other times for her work in Annie, Sweeney Todd, The Winter's Tale, Prin and Sister Act.
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Sheila Hancock was twice nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress for The Russian Bride and Bedtime.
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Sheila Cameron Hancock was born on 22 February 1933 in Blackgang on the Isle of Wight, the daughter of Enrico Cameron Hancock and Ivy Louise.
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Sheila Hancock was educated at St Etheldreda's Convent at Ely Place, Holborn, then at Upton Road Junior School and Upland Junior School.
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Sheila Hancock furthered her acting education at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1952 with an Acting.
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Sheila Hancock worked in repertory during the 1950s and made her West End debut in 1958, replacing Joan Sims in the play Breath of Spring.
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Sheila Hancock then appeared in Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop production of Make Me An Offer in 1959, and her other early West End appearances included Peter Cook's revue One Over the Eight with Kenneth Williams in 1961, and starring in Rattle of a Simple Man in 1962.
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In 1965, Sheila Hancock made her Broadway debut in Entertaining Mr Sloane.
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Sheila Hancock has appeared in The Winter's Tale, Titus Andronicus and A Delicate Balance for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
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Sheila Hancock was the first woman director of the RSC touring company, directing A Midsummer Night's Dream and was the first woman to direct in the Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre with The Critic.
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Sheila Hancock was associate artistic director of the Cambridge Theatre Company.
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In 2006, Sheila Hancock played the role of Fraulein Schneider in the West End revival of the musical Cabaret at the Lyric Theatre.
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Sheila Hancock won the Laurence Olivier Award, and the Clarence Derwent Award, for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical.
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In 2013, Sheila Hancock starred alongside Lee Evans and Keeley Hawes in the comedy Barking in Essex at Wyndham's Theatre.
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In 2016, Sheila Hancock starred with Jenna Russell in the UK premiere of the musical Grey Gardens at Southwark Playhouse.
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In 2019, Sheila Hancock starred in the musical This Is My Family at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester.
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Sheila Hancock played the lead roles in the sitcoms The Bed-Sit Girl, Mr Digby Darling and Now Take My Wife.
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In December 2012, Sheila Hancock took part in a Christmas special edition of the BBC programme Strictly Come Dancing.
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In January 2016, Sheila Hancock made a guest appearance in an episode of the BBC medical drama Casualty for its 30th anniversary.
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In January 2017, Sheila Hancock made a guest appearance in an episode of the Inspector Morse prequel Endeavour alongside her stepdaughter Abigail Thaw.
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In 2020, Sheila Hancock co-presented Great Canal Journeys for Channel 4 with Gyles Brandreth, with whom she had previously appeared on Celebrity Gogglebox.
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In 2023, Sheila Hancock played Liz Zettl in the BBC true-life crime drama miniseries The Sixth Commandment.
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In March 1963, Sheila Hancock made a comedy single record, "My Last Cigarette".
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Sheila Hancock has been a semi-regular contestant on the BBC Radio 4 panel game Just a Minute since 1967.
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In 1995 Sheila Hancock provided the voice of Granny Weatherwax in BBC Radio 4's adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel Wyrd Sisters.
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In 2011, Sheila Hancock appeared in the BBC Radio 4 series North by Northamptonshire, alongside Geoffrey Palmer.
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From 2007 to 2012 Sheila Hancock was chancellor of the University of Portsmouth.
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Sheila Hancock was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1977 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the curtain call of the play The Bed Before Yesterday at the Lyric Theatre, London.
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Sheila Hancock was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1974 Birthday Honours, Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2011 New Year Honours and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to drama and charity.
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In 2007, Sheila Hancock was appointed as the Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth In 2010, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Women in Film and Television Awards.
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Sheila Hancock was married to actor Alec Ross from 1955 until his death from oesophageal cancer in 1971.
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Sheila Hancock adopted Melanie and they had another daughter, Joanna Thaw.
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Sheila Hancock was married to Thaw until his death on 21 February 2002.
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Sheila Hancock herself was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1988, but made a full recovery.
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Sheila Hancock's 2004 book, The Two of Us is a dual biography, which gives accounts of both their lives, as well as focusing on their 28-year marriage.
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Sheila Hancock had published the memoir Ramblings of an Actress in 1987.
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Sheila Hancock is a member of the Religious Society of Friends.
40.
Sheila Hancock is a patron of educational charity Digismart as well as a trustee of the John Thaw Foundation.