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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Rachael Davies

Who is Dame Sheila Hancock? Actress offers £500 reward for lost necklace

Dame Sheila Hancock is offering a £500 reward for the return of a necklace of great sentimental value.

The gold necklace holds her mother’s wedding ring, her dad’s signet ring and her late husbands’ two wedding rings.

The legendary English actress said she had lost her “most treasured possession” after seeing Accidental Death Of An Anarchist at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London at the weekend.

“It’s the only thing I have of my father, because he didn’t have any other possessions,” Dame Sheila said on ITV’s Good Morning Britain. “The awful thing is it’s my fault and I feel a bit embarrassed because there’s so many dreadful things going on in the world.

“People can’t be bothered with me losing a necklace, but it does mean a lot to me and I would really love to get it back… it’s my mum and my dad and my husbands.”

So who is the actress and what has she worked on? Here’s what you need to know.

How old is Dame Sheila Hancock?

Born in the village of Blackwing on the Isle of Wight on February 22, 1933, Dame Sheila is 90.

She is the daughter of Enrico Cameron Hancock and Ivy Louise (née Woodward).

What has Dame Sheila Hancock appeared in?

Her 70-year career has spanned everything from theatre on the West End and Broadway, to long-running TV shows such as Inspector Morse, Doctor Who, New Tricks, Hustle, and The Catherine Tate Show.

She is perhaps best known recently for appearing in Channel 4’s Great Canal Journeys and Gogglebox, as well as in EastEnders and Now, Take My Wife.

Dame Sheila Hancock’s net worth

Dame Sheila is believed to be worth $5 million (£3.94m), according to My Celebrity Bio.

Who were Dame Sheila Hancock’s husbands?

The treasured necklace that Dame Sheila has lost includes two wedding rings from her two late husbands, John Thaw CBE (who she was married to between 1973 and 2002) and Alec Ross (who was her husband from 1955 to 1971).

Both Thaw and Ross were also distinguished actors, who starred in a range of television, stage, and cinema roles. Thaw’s major roles included Inspector Morse, The Sweeney, and Goodnight Mister Tom, while Ross featured in Doctor Who (1963) and The Avengers (1961).

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