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I felt Old Rage was a gift from the universe, given its positivity, despite Hancock’s righteous rage about various aspects of life.
In December 2017 in the Diary entry Sheila’s Aunt Billie had been moved into a hospital and was apparently fading fast. Loveable and forthright character that she is, Sheila lays it on the line and it’s all from the heart, which is why her prose is passionate and interesting. Today is particularly piercing on this score, the death of Denis Waterman, Thaw’s co-star in The Sweeney, having just been announced. 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. She also worries, in the book’s opening pages, that she is undeserving of the damehood she was awarded in 2021.But six months later I went to a place where I used to get my nails done, and there it was, hanging on the peg, as if to say: how dare you leave me behind? There was much to admire about the diary style reflections of Sheila in her 80s eg rants about Brexit and the impact of Covid. It was the best thing for her that he left, because she went to university and became a very reputable scholar.
Funny, feisty, honest, she makes for brilliant company as she talks about her life and takes an uncompromising look at a world so different from the one of her wartime childhood. At first I was a little unsettled by the format - it is loose and fluid like a conversation which switches backwards and forwards between dates and ideas.Sheila Hancock, one of Britain's most highly regarded and popular actors, received a Damehood for services to drama and charity in 2021. Have to say I skipped through some of her real rants but being an avid reader, I have never given up on a book in my 73 years. Names familiar and less familiar all get mentions into how their paths crossed and the impact those others have had on the arts. How “Brexit”, something she loathed, affected that scenario and its impact generally is emotionally covered.