Sheila Hancock, 87, ‘will be made a Dame in the New Year Honours list for services to drama’ after already receiving an OBE and CBE
Sheila Hancock will reportedly be made a Dame in the New Year Honours list.
The actress, 87, who has starred in movies such as Edie and Carry On Cleo as well as TV series The Rag Trade, already has an OBE and CBE.
It is thought that Sheila will be recognised for her services to drama when the list is officially published later this year, reports The Sun.
Achievement: Sheila Hancock will reportedly be made a Dame in the New Year Honours list
Sheila received her OBE in 1974 and her CBE in 2011, both for services to drama.
MailOnline has contacted Sheila’s representatives for a comment.
During her illustrious career Sheila has appeared in several hit shows including a role on EastEnders, where she played Barbara Owen for a year from 2000 to July 2001.
Other productions she has been involved in include movies The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas and 3 Men And A Little Lady.
More recently, Sheila had a starring role in 2018 theatre show Harold & Maude and has also been in Sister Act The Musical, Cabaret and the 1978 production Annie.
Long career: The star of screen and stage, 87, was married to Inspector Morse actor John Thaw for 29 years (pictured at the BAFTA Awards in 1990)
As well as working in film and theatre, Sheila has written three books including The Two of Us which was about her marriage to Inspector Morse actor John Thaw.
Sheila and John met in 1974 when she was the star of TV series The Rag Trade and they were married for 29 years before his death from cancer in 2002.
The actor survived just eight months after being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer and died at the age of 60.
Speaking after his death, Sheila revealed that she begged her husband not to die, pleading with him not to leave her.
British icon: Sheila already has an OBE and CBE (pictured with her OBE in 1974)
Work: Sheila has also starred in several stage shows including Sister Act The Musical, Cabaret and the 1978 production Annie (pictured in Sister Act in 2009)
The actress said the love they shared was so strong that it bordered on ‘obsessive’, and said that neither she nor John could ever imagine being apart from each other.
Sheila made the admission to Radio Times magazine as she compared her and John’s love to tragic lovers Cathy and Heathcliff in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights
Sheila said: ‘If you have ever known that obsessive love, which sometimes makes it difficult to be together but impossible to be apart, you can identify with the relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff.’
Sheila has also candidly spoken about how she is well prepared for her older years and said in 2018 that she intends to leave her wealth to charity rather than give it all to her grown-up daughters.
Long career: The actress has appeared in dozens of productions over the years (pictured in Mr Digby Darling with Peter Jones in 1969)
Leaving money to your children is ‘the worst thing you can do’, the actress said in an interview, adding: ‘I think having to earn a living is a good incentive … to force yourself up off your bottom.’
She told The Sunday Times she plans to leave money to her late husband’s charity, the John Thaw Foundation, which helps disadvantaged young people.
Her daughter Melanie, 56, is from her first marriage to actor Alec Ross, who died from cancer in 1971, and she had Joanna, 46, with John. She is also stepmother to his daughter Abigail.
Sheila spoke about how she selected her own care home in case she gets ill because she refuses to ‘lumber’ her children with taking care of her in old age.
She said: ‘I had two grannies living with us when we were little girls and I saw what a burden it was for my mother and I wouldn’t impose that. Your daughters, they have their own lives.’
Love: As well as working in film and theatre, Sheila has written three books including The Two of Us which was about her marriage to Inspector Morse actor John (pictured in 1993)