Old Rage: 'One of our best-loved actor's powerful riposte to a world driving her mad’ - DAILY MAIL

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We all went through similar experiences but maybe too close to our own situations to recognize we weren't alone in our isolations. Oh, I do agree – and the wonderful thing about getting older is that you can be a bit cantankerous and odd. Written during lockdown, “Old Rage” was born out of this extended time of isolation, giving Sheila time to reflect on her acting career, her family and her strongly-held beliefs; many of which might surprise or even offend some readers, but Sheila Hancock tells it like it is. In 2019 she was starring with James Nesbitt in Tim Firth’s musical comedy This Is My Family in Chichester when she fell in the bathroom of her digs, and had to have 10 stitches in her head. She had weathered and even thrived in widowhood, taking on acting roles that would have been demanding for a woman half her age.

When Sheila Hancock first sat down to begin writing her new memoir in 2016, the volume in question was intended to be an inspiriting book on the subject of old age.So why, at 89, having sailed past supposedly disturbing milestones – 50, 70 even 80 – without a qualm, did she suddenly feel so furious? Its pages would, she hoped, describe fulfilment and contentment as well as how best to keep your aching back straight (believe me when I tell you that her spine would induce awe in even the sternest pilates teacher).

Sheila remembered she had spent the most happiest days of her childhood in her Auntie Bill and Uncle Roy’s minuscule flat on the Rue d’Amsterdam. Old Rage” is in no way a metaphorical title: this is a brutally honest and fiercely funny book by a lady who has pretty much seen it all, and may yet have some life left in her. At her age she has seen much and it gives her deep insight into the people who claim to know how things should be and trying to wield power over us. I had assumed (and wondered if I was seeing it in myself) that as we get older we get less wound up by things.When she and Thaw became a couple – they married in 1973 – they each had a daughter, Abigail and Melanie, by their previous partners; later, they had a daughter together, Joanna.

Was really looking forward to this book as I love Sheila's straight talking and not phaffing and this didn't disappoint! I didn't get any of the humour that Hancock usually has when being interviewed or in her previous books. Home alone, classified as 'extremely vulnerable', she finds herself yelling at the TV and talking to the pigeons. She is brave although fearful and sometimes tearful but still interested in people, hugely engaged with the world and keen to promote change. I watched a film clip on YouTube and was in awe of Sheila's determination which she talks about in the book.I spent all my time with a tooth prop in my mouth, a device that was supposed to help with your vowels. There are eight grandchildren, all of whom, at various points during the lockdown, stood on Hancock’s patio and merrily “shouted” at her.

I confess I’ve not read any of her three previous efforts but, after digesting this diarised account of her latter years, I can certainly handle a bigger dose of Sheila. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. Hancock is brilliant company as she looks back on her life as a daughter, mother, widow and still an excellent performer, while railing against much of the modern world. It summed up a stage we were at: him being very sexy in leather, us spending money we’d never had before, and me driving him mad with my guidebooks. Amidst all this Hancock perseveres and describes the ups and downs of her life with wit and humor and always honesty.This is a lady who has seen World War, learned to use Zoom and WhatsApp, acted on stage with the greats and walks the deserted streets of London during the pandemic. But here we have a much loved and in many ways under-appreciated actress, dealing with the privations and challenges of old age.