Sheila Hancock: Both of her husbands died of the same tragic disease, here's what we know

Actress Sheila Hancock, known for her work in theatre and on shows like Doctor Who and EastEnders has lost very valuable possessions.

It was announced on 2 July 2023, that the actress had lost a necklace on which hung 4 wedding rings. The rings hold sentimental value for the actress as they were her parents’ rings as well as her own representing her two marriages.

The search for the rings is still ongoing and fans of the actress have take Twitter by storm, sharing pictures of said necklace and asking for help from everyone. Sheila Hancock herself has offered a reward of £500 for whoever finds and brings back her rings.

This news does beg one question: who were Sheila Hancock’s husbands?

Sheila Hancock and Alec Ross

Sheila Hancock’s love life has never been easy. The loss of the rings that happened on 2 July 2023 is another blow to what has been a very tragic life.

Hancock got married in 1955 to actor Alec Ross. The two had a daughter in 1964 called Melanie. Not much is known about the couple but we know that they stayed married until Ross died of esophageal cancer in 1971.

In an interview with The Guardian, Hancock does confess that the loss of her husband and of her mother (also to cancer) has a huge impact on her life.

She says:

it was a terrible time for me, and it did change me. I lost my religion, for one thing. (...) I was no longer interested in who caused it and why did it happen, I just thought, if somebody's suffering, let's do something about it, and if I'm suffering I should pull myself together rather than thinking somebody up there is going to help me.

Read more:Maggie Smith suffers from this very rare condition: What is Grave's disease?

Sheila Hancock and John Thaw

Two years after Alec Ross died, Sheila Hancock remarried to actor John Thaw. They had a daughter together called Joanna. In 2004, Sheila released an auto-biography called The Two of Us: My Life With John Thaw in which she goes over their 28 year of marriage.

It has been reported that in the book she also talks openly about issues the two had, especially about the fact that John Thaw had recurring depression.

She says:

yes, I felt awful, and I felt sorry for myself and I missed John terribly, (...) ll the time, I've been working and doing shows - and having fun a lot of the time. I suppose I have always had a sense of duty, and wanted to help people, but I'm much larkier in real life than my cuts suggest.

John Thaw passed away in 2002, also due to esophageal cancer.

Something that is really interesting about Sheila Hancock’s two late husbands, beyond the fact that they both died of the same thing, is that they reportedly shared one vice: alcoholism.

In an interview for Sky Arts the actress opens up and shares:

the men in my life had a volatility that came from drinking very often, and I must be drawn to that, otherwise why would I continuously have done it?

She also adds that maybe she continued to go for this type of men because she ‘likes the drama.’

While we might understand the appeal of an eventful love life, we do hope that Sheila Hancock will be able to be reunited with her belongings.

Read more:Elizabeth Hurley: A look into her tragic love life, from Hugh Grant to Steve Bing

Sources:

Twitter

Express: Sheila Hancock's urgent appeal as she offers huge reward to help find missing wedding ring

The Guardian: 'I'm not a dreary cow'

Digital Spy: Sheila Hancock: 'My marriages were volatile'

Wikipedia