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Sheila Gish

Sheila Gish

Actor · 1942 – 2005 · Lincoln, England, United Kingdom

Sheila Gish (23 April 1942 – 9 March 2005) was a British stage and television actress. She was born Sheila Anne Gash in Lincoln, studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and made her stage debut with a repertory company. Her first starring role in the West End was as Bella in Robert and Elizabeth. She continued to be best known for her stage work, but she also appeared in many television dramas, from The First Churchills (in which she played Mary of Modena) to the successful adaptation of Love in a Cold Climate (2001) in which she played the eccentric and outrageous Lady Montdore. She had two daughters: the actresses Kay Curram and Lou Gish (1967–2006) by her first husband, the actor Roland Curram. While filming That Uncertain Feeling for BBC2 in 1985, she met actor Denis Lawson, who was to become her second husband. She rarely appeared on film, her most notable performances being as Anna in the Merchant-Ivory film Quartet (1981) and as Mrs Norris in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park (1999). She is also known for her appearance in the 1986 film Highlander as Rachel Ellenstein. She took the part of the alcoholic Joanne in Stephen Sondheim's musical Company, directed by Sam Mendes at the Donmar Warehouse and in the West End, in 1995. The following year, she won the Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical. In 1999 she played Miss Venable in Tennessee Williams's Suddenly Last Summer, directed by Sean Mathias with Rachel Weisz at the Comedy Theatre, London. One of her last stage roles was as Arkadina in the Chichester Festival Theatre's production of The Seagull in 2003. By this time she had been diagnosed with cancer and had lost an eye as a result of surgery. She died in Camden, London. Her final performance was for BBC Radio. She is Ewan McGregor's mother's sister-in-law. Her daughter, Lou, also died of cancer less than a year after her mother.

Series24

  • TV6.6

    Play for Today

    1970 · 10 votes

  • TV6.7

    Tales of the Unexpected

    1979 · 54 votes

  • TV5.7

    Crown Court

    1972 · 6 votes

  • TV7.3

    Z-Cars

    1962 · 7 votes

  • TV8.1

    The Sweeney

    1975 · 28 votes

  • TV7.9

    Inspector Morse

    1987 · 146 votes

  • TV7.0

    ITV Playhouse

    1967 · 3 votes

  • TV6.3

    Performance

    1991 · 2 votes

  • TV7.3

    The Troubleshooters

    1965 · 3 votes

  • TV7.6

    Jonathan Creek

    1997 · 78 votes

  • TV8.3

    Pie in the Sky

    1994 · 15 votes

  • TV6.6

    The House of Eliott

    1991 · 14 votes

  • TV7.5
  • TV6.3

    New Scotland Yard

    1972 · 3 votes

  • TV7.2

    The Thin Blue Line

    1995 · 117 votes

  • TV6.3

    The Adventurer

    1972 · 7 votes

  • TV7.0

    Affairs of the Heart

    1974 · 1 votes

  • TV8.1

    Love in a Cold Climate

    2001 · 14 votes

  • TV7.0

    Anna Karenina

    1977 · 7 votes

  • TV6.8

    The First Churchills

    1969 · 4 votes

  • TV7.0
  • TV6.0

    Plays for Britain

    1976 · 1 votes

  • TV5.8

    Worlds Beyond

    1986 · 5 votes

  • TV

Movies15

  • Movie6.9

    Highlander

    1986 · 3K votes

  • Movie6.7

    Darling

    1965 · 155 votes

  • Movie6.7

    Mansfield Park

    1999 · 347 votes

  • Movie6.2
  • Movie5.8

    Quartet

    1981 · 41 votes

  • Movie4.9
  • Movie4.4
  • Movie
  • Movie7.5

    The Reckoning

    1970 · 17 votes

  • Movie3.3

    Seasick

    1996 · 3 votes

  • Movie
  • Movie7.1

    Company

    1996 · 5 votes

  • Movie
  • Movie
  • Movie

    Funny

    1971