Trivia

She is a breast cancer survivor. Her first husband, actor Alec Ross, died of cancer in 1971 and her second husband, actor John Thaw, died of oesophageal cancer in 2002. She has been a spokesperson for Cancer BACUP.

Mother of actress Melanie Thaw, born 1964, (with first husband Alec Ross) and Joanna Thaw, born 1974, (with second husband John Thaw). When John Thaw married Hancock, he decided to adopt Melanie officially, which is why she bears his surname.

She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1974 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to drama.

She was awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2021 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to Drama and to Charity. She is an actress in London, Greater London, England.

She was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2011 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to drama.

She suffers from stage fright and has used hypnotherapy to cure her fear of live performances.

During the Second World War, she was evacuated to Somerset at the age of 6.

She won the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical for her role as Fraulein Schneider in "Cabaret".

An Associate Member of Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA).

Her first acting experience was at the age of 10 playing a cold germ in a children's show.

She became the Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth on May 16, 2007.

Attended the Dartford County Grammar School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA).

Daughter of Enrico Cameron (1894-1965) and Ivy Louise (née Woodward) Hancock (1898-1970).

She was nominated for the 1980 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in "Sweeney Todd" but lost out to Gemma Craven.

She was stage director at the Cambridge Arts Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).

In 1980-81, she was Associate Director of the Cambridge Theatre Company. She was Director of the RSC Touring Company in 1983-84, and was the first woman to direct in the Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre in 1985.

She was cast as a chimpanzee owner in Carry on Regardless (1961), but had to drop out due to rehearsing for the West End revue "One Over the Eight" and was replaced by Ambrosine Phillpotts.

At school she played Dopey in a production of Snow White and wore a long train as part of her costume, tripped on it and landed on her face causing the audience to howl with laughter. She realised that she'd hogged the audience's attention and from then on she wanted to be a comedienne, Her ambition is to write a full length black comedy play.

She started acting at 6 by performing in the ladies bar of her fathers pub in the Kings Cross area of London.

She met John Thaw when they were in a play together in London's West End in 1969.

Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 2018.