Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I get these roles because I’m the only one still alive
Sheila Hancock on TV jobs
DAME Sheila Hancock says she is only still working at 88 because her contemporaries are dying.
The actress says her children tease her that her only recent roles have been dying or dementia patients.
She added: “I’m getting parts because other people are dropping off the twig.”
Sheila trained to play a mountain climber for her role in 2017 film Edie and explained: “The only reason I got that was that I was fitter than I am now. They probably tried all the others and they all said: ‘You kidding?’
“And I was the only one who thought: ‘This is a lovely part. I’ll go to the gym for three months and climb the mountain’.
“But I’m incredibly lucky that I still work and get interesting work.” Sheila currently appears in ITV crime drama Unforgotten as cantankerous Eileen. And although she isn’t bedbound like Eileen, Sheila doubts she will ever act on stage again.
She told Chichester Festival Theatre’s virtual Facing The Music event: “I can just about stagger on the stage now... don’t know if I can get across it.”
Earlier this week Sheila, who was married to John Thaw for 29 years until his death in 2002, said that during lockdown she has “stood and stared at the walls”. She added on BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour: “I am so enjoying that I’m wearing... dirty old trousers, no make-up.”
Last month Sheila said she plans to leave “a huge amount” of her wealth to youth charity the John Thaw Foundation.
She added: “My children are happy with my decision – well, I don’t care if they’re not!”