Sheila Hancock

Dame Sheila Hancock moved from the Isle of Wight to King's Cross in London as a child, where her mother and father ran a pub. She went to Dartford Grammar School, and then, with a grant, went to RADA. She then went into nine years of weekly repertory around the country. While in repertory in Bath she met actor Alec Ross, whom she married in 1955, and had a daughter, Melanie Thaw (aka "Ellie Jane") on July 15, 1964.Hancock's first big TV hit was her appearance in The Rag Trade (1961). Her first theatrical success was in "Rattle of a Simple Man" at the Garrick Theatre London. In 1969 she starred in the West End hit "So What About Love?", where she met actor John Thaw. The same year her mother died of cancer, followed nearly nine months later by her husband's tragic death. On December 24, 1973, she married John Thaw, with their daughters Melanie and Abigail present. On July 27. 1974, at Queen Charlotte's Hospital, Hammersmith, she gave birth to her only child with Thaw, Joanna Suzy Thaw.In the 1980s Hancock toured the UK with the Royal Shakespeare Company and later with the National Theatre. In 1988 she was told she had breast cancer, but she fought and won her battle against it. She and Thaw split briefly during this period.In the early 1990s Hancock and Thaw bought a house in Luckington Wiltshire, as well as a farmhouse in Provence, France. In 2001 Thaw was told he had cancer. For nine months he fought against it, and with Hancock's help his privacy was protected. He died in her arms the day before her 69th birthday.Since his death Hancock has written a book called "The Two of Us: My Life with John Thaw", and has made numerous TV and stage appearance talking about the book and her life with him.Hancock lives in Hammersmith near her daughters and grandchildren.