Sheila Hancock
Encyclopedia
Sheila Cameron Hancock, CBE
(born 22 February 1933) is an English actress and author.
on the Isle of Wight
, the daughter of Ivy Louise (née Woodward) and Enrico Cameron Hancock, who was a publican
. Her sister Billie is seven years older (and worked as a variety artist until retiring to Antibes
in 2003 at the age of 79). After wartime evacuation, Hancock attended Dartford County Grammar School
and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
.
debut in 1958, replacing Joan Sims
in the play Breath of Spring. She then appeared in Joan Littlewood
's Theatre Workshop
production of Make Me An Offer in 1959, and her other early West End
appearances included the revue One Over the Eight with Kenneth Williams
in 1961, and starring in Rattle of a Simple Man in 1962. In 1965, she made her Broadway
debut in Entertaining Mr Sloane
. In 1978, she played Miss Hannigan in the original London cast of the musical Annie
and two years later, she played Mrs Lovett in the original London production of the musical Sweeney Todd
.
She appeared in The Winter's Tale
, Titus Andronicus
and A Delicate Balance for the Royal Shakespeare Company
. At the National Theatre
she appeared in The Cherry Orchard
and The Duchess of Malfi
. She also directed A Midsummer Night's Dream
for the RSC on tour and was the first female director at the National, with The Critic
.
In 2006, she played the role of Fraulein Schneider in the West End revival of the musical Cabaret
at the Lyric Theatre
. She won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role In A Musical. In 2009, she spent over a year playing Mother Superior in Sister Act the Musical
at the London Palladium
.
in the early 1960s. She also played the lead roles in the sitcoms The Bed-Sit Girl
, Mr Digby Darling and Now Take My Wife
. Her other television credits include Doctor Who
, Kavanagh QC
(opposite her husband, John Thaw
), EastEnders
, Gone to the Dogs (TV series)
The Russian Bride, Brighton Belles, Bedtime
, Fortysomething, Bleak House, New Tricks and The Catherine Tate Show
. In 2008, she played the part of a terminally ill
patient who's travelled to Switzerland
to have an assisted suicide
in one of The Last Word monologues for the BBC. In 2009, she played Liz in The Rain Has Stopped, part of the BBC daytime mini-series Moving On.
(1961), Carry On Cleo
(1964), The Anniversary
(1968), Take a Girl Like You
(1970), The Wildcats of St Trinian's
(1980), Buster
(1988), Three Men and a Little Lady (1990), Love and Death on Long Island
(1997) and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
(2008).
, Room 101
and Have I Got News For You
. On radio, she has been a semi-regular contestant on the BBC Radio 4
panel game Just a Minute
since 1967. Since May 2007, Sheila Hancock has been Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth. From March to May 2010, she appeared as a judge on the BBC show Over the Rainbow
, along with Charlotte Church
, Andrew Lloyd Webber
and John Partridge
.
Hancock regularly works in radio, and is scheduled to appear in the BBC Radio Four series 'North by Northamptonshire' in 2011, alongside Geoffrey Palmer
.
. He adopted Melanie and they had another daughter, Joanna. Thaw's daughter Abigail, from his first marriage, also joined their family. 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 diagnosed with breast cancer
during the late 1980s, but made a full recovery. Her 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. This was followed by the 2008 book, Just Me, an account of coming to terms with widowhood. She has seven grandchildren.
Hancock is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). She is a patron of the London HIV
charity, The Food Chain
and works with the London children's charity Kids Company
.
She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1974 and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 22 February 1933) is an English actress and author.
Early life
Sheila Hancock was born in BlackgangBlackgang
Blackgang is a village on the south coast of the Isle of Wight. It is best known as the location of the Blackgang Chine amusement park which sits to the south of St Catherine's Down....
on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, the daughter of Ivy Louise (née Woodward) and Enrico Cameron Hancock, who was a publican
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
. Her sister Billie is seven years older (and worked as a variety artist until retiring to Antibes
Antibes
Antibes is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.It lies on the Mediterranean in the Côte d'Azur, located between Cannes and Nice. The town of Juan-les-Pins is within the commune of Antibes...
in 2003 at the age of 79). After wartime evacuation, Hancock attended Dartford County Grammar School
Dartford Grammar School for Girls
Dartford Grammar School for Girls is a grammar school specializing in science, mathematics and computing that is located at Shepherds Lane , Dartford, Kent, England...
and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
.
Theatre
She worked in repertory during the 1950s and made her West EndWest End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
debut in 1958, replacing Joan Sims
Joan Sims
Joan Sims was an English actress best remembered for her roles in the Carry On films, and latterly for playing Madge Hardcastle in As Time Goes By.-Early life:...
in the play Breath of Spring. She then appeared in Joan Littlewood
Joan Littlewood
Joan Maud Littlewood was a British theatre director, noted for her work in developing the left-wing Theatre Workshop...
's Theatre Workshop
Theatre Workshop
Theatre Workshop is a theatre group noted for their director, Joan Littlewood. Many actors of the 1950s and 1960s received their training and first exposure with the company...
production of Make Me An Offer in 1959, and her other early West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
appearances included the revue One Over the Eight with Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
in 1961, and starring in Rattle of a Simple Man in 1962. In 1965, she made her Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut in Entertaining Mr Sloane
Entertaining Mr Sloane
Entertaining Mr Sloane is a play by the English playwright Joe Orton. It was first produced in London at the New Arts Theatre on 6 May 1964 and transferred to the West End's Wyndham's Theatre on 29 June 1964.-Plot summary:Act 1...
. In 1978, she played Miss Hannigan in the original London cast of the musical Annie
Annie (musical)
Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years with a blonde Annie as the poster...
and two years later, she played Mrs Lovett in the original London production of the musical Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as then antagonist of the Victorian penny dreadful The String of Pearls and he was later introduced as an antihero in the broadway musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and its film adaptation...
.
She appeared in The Winter's Tale
The Winter's Tale
The Winter's Tale is a play by William Shakespeare, originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, some modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some critics, among them W. W...
, Titus Andronicus
Titus Andronicus
Titus Andronicus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, and possibly George Peele, believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy, and is often seen as his attempt to emulate the violent and bloody revenge plays of his contemporaries, which were...
and A Delicate Balance for the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
. At the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
she appeared in The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard is Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's last play. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Constantin Stanislavski. Chekhov intended this play as a comedy and it does contain some elements of farce; however, Stanislavski insisted on...
and The Duchess of Malfi
The Duchess of Malfi
The Duchess of Malfi is a macabre, tragic play written by the English dramatist John Webster in 1612–13. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theatre, then before a more general audience at The Globe, in 1613-14...
. She also directed A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
for the RSC on tour and was the first female director at the National, with The Critic
The Critic (play)
The Critic: or, a Tragedy Rehearsed is a satire by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first staged at Drury Lane Theatre in 1779. It is a burlesque on stage acting and play production conventions, and Sheridan considered the first act to be his finest piece of writing...
.
In 2006, she played the role of Fraulein Schneider in the West End revival of the musical Cabaret
Cabaret (musical)
Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....
at the Lyric Theatre
Lyric Theatre (London)
The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster.Designed by architect C. J. Phipps, it was built by producer Henry Leslie with profits from the Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson hit, Dorothy, which he transferred from the Prince of Wales Theatre to open...
. She won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role In A Musical. In 2009, she spent over a year playing Mother Superior in Sister Act the Musical
Sister Act the Musical
Sister Act is a musical written by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner with additional book material by Douglas Carter Beane, with lyrics by Glenn Slater and music by Alan Menken. It is based on the hit 1992 film comedy of the same name...
at the London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
.
Television
Her first big television role was as Carol in the BBC sitcom The Rag TradeThe Rag Trade
The Rag Trade was a British television sitcom broadcast by the BBC between 1961 and 1963 and by LWT between 1977 and 1978.The scripts were by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney, who later wrote Wild, Wild Women, a period variation of The Rag Trade....
in the early 1960s. She also played the lead roles in the sitcoms The Bed-Sit Girl
The Bed-Sit Girl
The Bed-Sit Girl was a British sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1965 to 1966. Created by Chesney and Wolfe for Sheila Hancock, The Bed-Sit Girl aired for two series....
, Mr Digby Darling and Now Take My Wife
Now Take My Wife
Now Take My Wife was a BBC situation comedy which ran for only one series of 14 episodes in 1971.It starred Sheila Hancock and Donald Houston as a suburban middle-class couple, Claire and Harry Love. He would start each episode by turning to the camera and saying "Now .....
. Her other television credits include Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, Kavanagh QC
Kavanagh QC
Kavanagh QC is a British television series made by Carlton Television for ITV between 1995 and 2001. It has been shown on ITV3 as recently as August 2011; series 1–6 are available on Region 2 DVDs....
(opposite her husband, John Thaw
John Thaw
John Edward Thaw, CBE was an English actor, who appeared in a range of television, stage and cinema roles, his most popular being police and legal dramas such as Redcap, The Sweeney, Inspector Morse and Kavanagh QC.-Early life:Thaw came from a working class background, having been born in Gorton,...
), EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, Gone to the Dogs (TV series)
Gone to the Dogs (TV series)
Gone to the Dogs is a comedy-drama television miniseries that aired in 1991 in the UK. It starred Alison Steadman, Jim Broadbent, Harry Enfield, Warren Clarke and Sheila Hancock and told the story of a group of people involved in the business of racing greyhounds...
The Russian Bride, Brighton Belles, Bedtime
Bedtime (TV series)
Bedtime was a British comedy-drama written and directed by Andy Hamilton and broadcast by the BBC. It ran for three series for a total of fifteen episodes between August 2001 and December 2003. The first two series had six episodes each and the third series had three episodes...
, Fortysomething, Bleak House, New Tricks and The Catherine Tate Show
The Catherine Tate Show
The Catherine Tate Show is a British television sketch comedy written by Catherine Tate and Aschlin Ditta. Tate also stars in all but one of the show's sketches, which feature a wide range of characters. The Catherine Tate Show airs on BBC Two and is shown worldwide through the BBC...
. In 2008, she played the part of a terminally ill
Terminal illness
Terminal illness is a medical term popularized in the 20th century to describe a disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and that is reasonably expected to result in the death of the patient within a short period of time. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as...
patient who's travelled to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
to have an assisted suicide
Assisted suicide
Assisted suicide is the common term for actions by which an individual helps another person voluntarily bring about his or her own death. "Assistance" may mean providing one with the means to end one's own life, but may extend to other actions. It differs to euthanasia where another person ends...
in one of The Last Word monologues for the BBC. In 2009, she played Liz in The Rain Has Stopped, part of the BBC daytime mini-series Moving On.
Film
She has appeared in numerous films, including The Girl on the BoatThe Girl on the Boat (film)
The Girl on the Boat is a 1961 British comedy film directed by Henry Kaplan and starring Norman Wisdom, Millicent Martin and Richard Briers. It is based on The Girl on the Boat by P.G...
(1961), Carry On Cleo
Carry On Cleo
Carry On Cleo is the tenth film in the Carry On film series and was released in 1964. The website ICONS.a portrait of England cites the Carry On films as iconic of British cinema, and describes Carry On Cleo as "perhaps the best". Regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor, Charles...
(1964), The Anniversary
The Anniversary (film)
The Anniversary is a 1968 British black comedy film directed by Roy Ward Baker. The screenplay by Jimmy Sangster is based on the 1966 play of the same title by Bill MacIlwraith.-Plot:...
(1968), Take a Girl Like You
Take a Girl Like You (film)
Take a Girl Like You is a 1970 British comedy film directed by Jonathan Miller and starring Hayley Mills, Oliver Reed, Sheila Hancock, Ronald Lacey, John Bird, Noel Harrison, Aimi MacDonald and Penelope Keith. It was based on the 1960 novel Take a Girl Like You by Kingsley Amis, and was adapted by...
(1970), The Wildcats of St Trinian's
The Wildcats of St Trinian's
The Wildcats of St. Trinian's is the fifth British comedy film set in the fictional St Trinian's School, released in 1980.It poked fun at the British trade union movement which had been responsible for the recent wave of strikes that culminated in the Winter of Discontent.The film was not a...
(1980), Buster
Buster (film)
Buster is a 1988 comedy-drama film starring musician Phil Collins, Julie Walters, Larry Lamb and Sheila Hancock. The soundtrack featured two Phil Collins singles which eventually topped the Billboard 100 singles chart.-Plot:...
(1988), Three Men and a Little Lady (1990), Love and Death on Long Island
Love and Death on Long Island
Love and Death on Long Island is a 1997 UK / Canadian film directed by Richard Kwietniowski and starring Jason Priestley, John Hurt, Fiona Loewi, Sheila Hancock and Anne Reid....
(1997) and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (film)
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a 2008 historical-drama film based on the novel of the same name by Irish writer John Boyne. Directed by Mark Herman and produced by David Heyman, it stars Asa Butterfield, Jack Scanlon, David Thewlis, Vera Farmiga and Rupert Friend.A Holocaust drama, the film...
(2008).
Other work
She made guest appearances on television shows like Grumpy Old WomenGrumpy Old Women
For the live show, see Grumpy Old Women LiveGrumpy Old Women is a British television series, continuing in the same vein as its predecessor, Grumpy Old Men. Both programmes are shown on BBC Two. The first two series were narrated by Alison Steadman, and the third by Judith Holder...
, Room 101
Room 101
Room 101 is a place introduced in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. It is a torture chamber in the Ministry of Love in which the Party attempts to subject a prisoner to his or her own worst nightmare, fear or phobia....
and Have I Got News For You
Have I Got News for You
Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show...
. On radio, she has been a semi-regular contestant on the BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
panel game Just a Minute
Just a Minute
Just a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game chaired by Nicholas Parsons. Its first transmission on Radio 4 was on 22 December 1967, three months after the station's launch. The Radio 4 programme won a Gold Sony Radio Academy Award in 2003....
since 1967. Since May 2007, Sheila Hancock has been Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth. From March to May 2010, she appeared as a judge on the BBC show Over the Rainbow
Over the Rainbow (2010 TV series)
Over the Rainbow is a British television talent series which aired on BBC One from March to May 2010. It documents the search for a new, undiscovered musical theatre performer to play the role of Dorothy in the forthcoming Andrew Lloyd Webber stage production of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and a...
, along with Charlotte Church
Charlotte Church
Charlotte Maria Church is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter. She rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching into pop music in 2005. By 2007, she had sold more than 10 million records worldwide including over 5 million in the United States...
, Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
and John Partridge
John Partridge (performer)
John Partridge is an English actor, singer, dancer, panelist and television presenter, who is probably best known for the role of Christian Clarke in the long-running BBC television soap opera EastEnders, having joined the cast in January 2008...
.
Hancock regularly works in radio, and is scheduled to appear in the BBC Radio Four series 'North by Northamptonshire' in 2011, alongside Geoffrey Palmer
Geoffrey Palmer (actor)
Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE is an English actor, best known for his roles in sitcoms such as Butterflies and As Time Goes By.-Career:...
.
Personal life
Hancock was married to actor Alec Ross from 1954 until his death from oesophageal cancer in 1971. They had one daughter, Melanie, born in 1964. In 1973, Hancock married actor John ThawJohn Thaw
John Edward Thaw, CBE was an English actor, who appeared in a range of television, stage and cinema roles, his most popular being police and legal dramas such as Redcap, The Sweeney, Inspector Morse and Kavanagh QC.-Early life:Thaw came from a working class background, having been born in Gorton,...
. He adopted Melanie and they had another daughter, Joanna. Thaw's daughter Abigail, from his first marriage, also joined their family. 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 diagnosed with breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
during the late 1980s, but made a full recovery. Her 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. This was followed by the 2008 book, Just Me, an account of coming to terms with widowhood. She has seven grandchildren.
Hancock is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). She is a patron of the London HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
charity, The Food Chain
The Food Chain
The Food Chain is a London, United Kingdom-based charity working to provide food and nutritional services to people living with HIV and related illness. Formed on Christmas Day 1988, its stated aim is "to ensure that those living with HIV.....
and works with the London children's charity Kids Company
Kids Company
Kids Company is a charity organisation that works with young ex-offenders and disadvantaged children through inner-city schools in London, a drop-in centre in Camberwell, and the Urban Academy in Southwark...
.
She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1974 and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours.
Honours and awards
- 1974 Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama
- 2002 BAFTA nomination, Best Actress for The Russian Bride
- 2003 BAFTA nomination, Best Actress for BedtimeBedtime (TV series)Bedtime was a British comedy-drama written and directed by Andy Hamilton and broadcast by the BBC. It ran for three series for a total of fifteen episodes between August 2001 and December 2003. The first two series had six episodes each and the third series had three episodes...
- 2007 Appointment as Chancellor of the University of PortsmouthUniversity of PortsmouthThe University of Portsmouth is a university in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The University was ranked 60th out of 122 in The Sunday Times University Guide...
- 2007 Laurence Olivier Award, Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical for her role as Fraulein Schneider in CabaretCabaret (musical)Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....
- 2010 Laurence Olivier Award nomination, Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical for her role as Mother Superior in Sister Act the MusicalSister Act the MusicalSister Act is a musical written by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner with additional book material by Douglas Carter Beane, with lyrics by Glenn Slater and music by Alan Menken. It is based on the hit 1992 film comedy of the same name...
. - 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
External links
- Guardian Profile of Hancock 4 October 2008 accessed 2010-03-09