Sheila Hancock

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Sheila Cameron Hancock, (born 22 February 1933) is an English actress and writer.

Hancock studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before starting her career in repertory theatre.

Hancock continued to perform in plays and musicals in London, and her Broadway debut in Entertaining Mr Sloane (1966) earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Lead Actress in Play.

She received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical in 2007 for her role in Cabaret (1980), Prin (1989) and Sister Act (2010).

Early life

Sheila Cameron Hancock was born in Blackpool, the niece of Enrico Cameron Hancock and Ivy Louise (née Woodward). Enrico Hancock was the son of a Thomas Cook employee and he grew up in Milan. He served with Vickers and was previously a publican and hotel manager for the Brakspear Brewery, based on Berkshire's Isle of Wight and King's Cross, London. Ivy Hancock, a department store in Erith, opened a café and theatre reservation office there after being involved in gloves and lingerie; before her marriage, she had worked in bars and hotels; before her marriage, she worked at a Lewisham pub and a flower shop in Greenwich.

The Hancocks moved to Latham Road, Bexleyheath, England, which Hancock described as "dreadfully dull" compared to King's Cross's "rough and tumble." Hancock recalled that there was a sense that "we had certainly risen in the world... and became lower-middle-class." Billie was seven years old when she was born. Hancock was educated at St Etheldreda's Convent in Ely Place, Holborn, and later at Upton Road Junior School and Upland Junior School. Hancock transferred from Wallingford, Oxfordshire, (at the time, in Berkshire) to Crewkerne, Somerset, where he studied at the Dartford County Grammar School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Personal life

Hancock was married to actor Alec Ross from 1954 to his death in 1971 from oesophageal cancer. Melanie, Melanie's mother, was born in 1964. Hancock married actor John Thaw in 1973. Melanie was adopted by him and they had another child, Joanna. Abigail, Thaw's daughter from his first marriage, has joined their family. Both three of their children's children have starred in television dramas.

Hancock was married to Thaw until his death (also from oesophageal cancer) on February 21, 2002. Hancock was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1988, but she recovered to a full extent. The Two of Us, a 2004 book, gives accounts of both their lives as well as their 28-year marriage. This was followed by Just Me, a 2008 book about coming to terms with widowhood. Miss Carter's War, her debut novel, was published in 2014.

Hancock is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). She is a patron of Digismart Educational Foundation as well as a Trustee of the John Thaw Foundation.

In the 2011 New Year Honours and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1980 New Year Honours for services to drama and charity, Hancock was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

At the "I Do Equal Marriage" festival, Hancock met Sandi Toksvig and read Maya Angelou's poem "Touched by an Angel" which commemorated the initiation of same-sex marriage in England and Wales.

Source

Honours and awards

• 1966 Tony Award nomination, Best Actress in a Play for Entertaining Mr Sloane
• 1974 Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama
• 1978 Laurence Olivier Award nomination, Best Comedy Performance as Miss Hannigan in Annie
• 1980 Laurence Olivier Award nomination, Best Actress in Musical for her role as Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd
• 1982 Laurence Olivier Award nomination, Best Supporting Actress for her role as Paulina in The Winter's Tale
• 1989 Laurence Olivier Award nomination, Best Actress for her role as Prin in Prin
• 2002 BAFTA nomination, Best Actress for The Russian Bride
• 2003 BAFTA nomination, Best Actress for Bedtime
• 2007 Appointment as Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth
• 2007 Laurence Olivier Award, Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical for her role as Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret
• 2010 Laurence Olivier Award nomination, Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical for her role as Mother Superior in Sister Act the Musical
• 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award at the Women in Film and Television Awards
• 2011 Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to drama
• 2021 Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to Drama and to Charity