# Sheila Gish

Sheila Gish (born Sheila Anne Syme Gash; 23 April 1942 – 9 March 2005) was an English actress. For her role in the 1995 London revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical Company, she won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical.
Her film appearances included an A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1972), Quartet (1981), Highlander (1986) and Mansfield Park (1999) On television, she starred in the 1969 BBC series The First Churchills, the 1992 TV miniseries of Danielle Steel's Jewels and the short-lived ITV sitcom Brighton Belles (1993–94).

## Personal life

She was born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), and made her stage debut with a repertory company. She had two daughters: the actresses Lou Gish and Kay (Katharine Ghislaine S. A.) Curram (born 1974) 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.

## Career

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. In 1996, Gish played the role of Joanne in Stephen Sondheim's Company at the Donmar Warehouse directed by Sam Mendes. Gish received the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Role in a Musical for her performance. In 1999 she played Mrs 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.
Gish 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 also appeared in an episode of The Sweeney in 1975 as June Boyse, a villain's wife, and "A Harmless Vanity", a 1982 Tales of the Unexpected episode playing a suspicious housewife.
Gish occasionally appeared in films, her most notable performances being in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1972), Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973), the Merchant Ivory film Quartet (1981), Merisairas (1996), and as Mrs Norris in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park (1999). She is also known for her appearance as Rachel Ellenstein in the 1986 film Highlander and its 2000 sequel Highlander: Endgame.

## Later life, illness and death

In 2003, Gish lost her right eye to skin cancer.
In March 2004, Gish married her partner Denis Lawson in Antigua.
Gish died of cancer in 2005 in Camden, London, aged 62.

## Partial filmography

Partial list of Sheila Gish film and television credits :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1965 | Darling | | Cameo (uncredited) |
| 1968 | Z-Cars | Jane | Episode: "Dead End – Part 1" |
| 1969 | The First Churchills | Mary, Duchess of York | 5 episodes |
| 1969 | Fraud Squad | Leonie | Episode: "Last Exit to Liechenstein" |
| 1969 | The Troubleshooters | Sue Kihl | Episode: "How Much is One Man's Worth?" |
| 1970 | The Reckoning | Mrs. Garner | |
| 1970 | Every Home Should Have One | Mother in TV Commercial (uncredited) | |
| 1971 | The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes | Mrs. Chalmers | Episode: "The Affair of the Avalanche Bicycle & Tyre Co. Ltd. |
| 1972 | A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | Pam | |
| 1972 | New Scotland Yard | Kay Stevens | Episode: "Shock Tactics" |
| 1973 | The Adventurer | Laura | Episode: "To the Lowest Bidder" |
| 1973 | Hitler: The Last Ten Days | Gerda Christian | |
| 1975 | The Sweeney | June | Episode: "Jigsaw" |
| 1976 | Yes, Honestly | Antonia Lavenham | Episode: "Black and White and Red All Over" |
| 1977 | Anna Karenina | Princess Betsy | 7 episodes |
| 1979 | Thomas and Sarah | Polly | Episode: "Putting on the Ritz" |
| 1981 | Goodbye Darling | Janet Lyall | 4 episodes |
| 1981 | Quartet | Anna | |
| 1982 | The Gentle Touch | Adela Baker | Episode: "Victims" |
| 1986 | Highlander | Rachel Ellenstein | |
| 1986 | That Uncertain Feeling | Elizabeth Gruffydd-Williams | 4 episodes |
| 1988 | Worlds Beyond | Mrs. Hitchcock | Reflections of Evil |
| 1989 | Boon | Barbara Lake | Episode: "Love Letters From a Dead Man" |
| 1989 | Chambre à part | Mme. Kirby | |
| 1991 | The House of Elliot | Yolande Hermane | 1 episode |
| 1991 | Stanley and the Women | Nowell Hutchinson | 4 episodes (mini-series) |
| 1992 | Jewels | Victoria Thomspon | 2 episodes (mini-series) |
| 1993 | The Brighton Belles | Bridget | 10 episodes |
| 1993 | Inspector Morse | Gwladys Probert | Episode: "Twilight of the Gods" |
| 1995 | The Ghosbusters of East Finchley | Mrs. Paget | 1 episode |
| 1995 | The Thin Blue Line | Maeve – The Sex Therapist | Episode: "Night Shift" |
| 1996 | Merisairas | Martina Schaffer | |
| 1997 | Jonathan Creek | Serena Shale | Episode: "The Wrestler's Tomb" |
| 1997 | Pie in the Sky | Julia Sutton | Episode: "Pork Pies" |
| 1998 | Supply & Demand | Pauline Monroe | Episodes: "Golden Goose (Parts 1 and 2)" |
| 1999 | Mansfield Park | Mrs. Norris | |
| 2000 | Highlander: Endgame | Rachel Ellenstein | |
| 2001 | Love in a Cold Climate | Lady Montdore | 3 episodes (mini-series) |