Sheila Hancock

A successful stage actress and 1974 recipient of an OBE, Sheila first came to TV audiences" attention in The Rag Trade. She consolidated her fame in BBC dramas, and later appeared on the soap EastEnders. She is active in the fight against breast cancer, which she survived, and was married to actor John Thaw, who died of cancer in 2002. She wrote a book about their lives, The Two Of Us, in 2004.