Sheila Gish
Encyclopedia
Sheila Gish 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.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
actress.
She was born Sheila Anne Gash in Lincoln
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
, studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
, and made her stage debut with a repertory company.
Her first starring role in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
was as Bella in Robert and Elizabeth
Robert and Elizabeth
Robert and Elizabeth is a musical with music by Ron Grainer and book and lyrics by Ronald Millar. The story is based on an unproduced musical titled The Third Kiss by Judge Fred G. Moritt, which in turn was adapted from the play The Barretts of Wimpole Street by Rudolph Besier...
.
She continued to be best known for her stage work, but she also appeared in many television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
dramas, from The First Churchills
The First Churchills
The First Churchills was a BBC serial from 1969 about the life of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and his wife, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough...
(in which she played Mary of Modena
Mary of Modena
Mary of Modena was Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of King James II and VII. A devout Catholic, Mary became, in 1673, the second wife of James, Duke of York, who later succeeded his older brother Charles II as King James II...
) to the successful adaptation of Love in a Cold Climate
Love in a Cold Climate (TV serial)
Love in a Cold Climate is a British television serial drama produced by the BBC in association with WGBH Boston, and first broadcast in two parts on BBC One on 4 and 11 February 2001...
(2001) in which she played the eccentric and outrageous Lady Montdore.
She had two daughters: the actresses Kay Curram and Lou Gish
Lou Gish
Lou Gish was an English stage, film and television actress. She was born as Louise Curram in 1967, the elder daughter of the actor Roland Curram and the actress Sheila Gish. Her partner at her death was Nicholas Rowe. She acted with her sister Kay Curram in King Lear at the Chichester Festival...
(1967–2006) by her first husband, the actor Roland Curram
Roland Curram
Roland Curram is a successful English actor.Curram was educated at Brighton College and has led a long film, television and theatre career. His appearances include Julie Christie's gay travelling companion in her Oscar-winning movie Darling and the expatriate Freddie in the BBC's short-lived soap...
. While filming That Uncertain Feeling
That Uncertain Feeling
That Uncertain Feeling is a comic novel by Kingsley Amis, first published in 1956.In 1962, the book was made into a film starring Peter Sellers, with the title changed to Only Two Can Play...
for BBC2 in 1985, she met actor Denis Lawson
Denis Lawson
Denis Stamper Lawson is a Scottish actor and director. He is known for his roles as John Jarndyce in the BBC's adaptation of Bleak House and as Gordon Urquhart in the film Local Hero, but is best known for playing the part of Wedge Antilles in the original Star Wars trilogy.-Early life:Lawson was...
, 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
Quartet (1981 film)
Quartet is a 1981 Merchant Ivory Film, starring Isabelle Adjani, Maggie Smith, Anthony Higgins and Alan Bates, set in 1924 Paris. It premiered at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival and was an entry for the Selection Officielle...
(1981) and as Mrs Norris in Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
's Mansfield Park
Mansfield Park (film)
Mansfield Park is a 1999 British romantic comedy-drama film loosely based on Jane Austen's novel of the same name, written and directed by Patricia Rozema. The film differs sharply from the original novel in many respects. For example, the life of Jane Austen is incorporated into the film and the...
(1999). She is also known for her appearance in the 1986 film Highlander
Highlander (film)
Highlander is a 1986 fantasy action film directed by Russell Mulcahy and based on a story by Gregory Widen. It stars Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Clancy Brown, and Roxanne Hart. The film depicts the climax of an ages-old battle between immortal warriors, depicted through interwoven past and...
as Rachel Ellenstein
Rachel Ellenstein
Rachel Ellenstein is a fictional character from the universe of Highlander movies, portrayed by actress Sheila Gish.Rachel Ellenstein is one of several characters from the Highlander universe to appear in both movie and television series continuity .-Highlander:Born in 1936 in Amsterdam, Holland...
.
She took the part of the alcoholic Joanne in Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
's musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Company
Company (musical)
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....
, directed by Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes
Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond...
at the Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...
and in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
, 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
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
's Suddenly Last Summer, directed by Sean Mathias
Sean Mathias
Sean Gerard Mathias is a British theatre director, film director, writer and actor.Mathias was born in Swansea, south Wales. He is known for directing the film, Bent, and for directing highly acclaimed theatre productions in London, New York, Cape Town, Los Angeles and Sydney...
with Rachel Weisz
Rachel Weisz
Rachel Hannah Weisz born 7 March 1970)is an English-American film and theatre actress and former fashion model. She started her acting career at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she co-founded the theatrical group Cambridge Talking Tongues...
at the Comedy Theatre, London. One of her last stage roles was as Arkadina in the Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989....
's production of The Seagull
The Seagull
The Seagull is the first of what are generally considered to be the four major plays by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. The Seagull was written in 1895 and first produced in 1896...
in 2003.
By this time she had been diagnosed with cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
and had lost an eye as a result of surgery. She died in Camden
London Borough of Camden
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
, London.
Her final performance was for BBC Radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
. She is Ewan McGregor
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...
's mother's sister-in-law
Sister-in-law
A sister-in-law is the sister of one's spouse, the wife of one's sibling, or sometimes the wife of one's spouse's sibling...
.
Her daughter, Lou, also died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
less than a year after her mother.