Sheila Betty Mercier (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Rix; 1 January 1919 – 4 December 2019) was an English

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, of stage and television, best known for playing Annie Sugden in the soap opera ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

'' for over 20 years, from the programme's first episode in 1972 until 1994, with a guest return in 2009.

Early life and education

Mercier was born in Hull,

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, the daughter of Herbert Rix (of J.R. Rix & Sons Ltd) and his wife Fanny. She was their third child and second daughter; her younger brother was the actor and campaigner Brian Rix. After education at the French Convent (Hull) and at Hunmanby Hall (both

), she trained for the stage at the

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of Engl ...

College of Drama under

Randle Ayrton Frederick Randle Ayrton (9 August 1869 – 28 May 1940) was a British actor of stage and screen, and was also a producer and director. Early life Ayrton was born in Chester to William Frances Ayrton, a wealthy wine-merchant who was a par ...

Career

Mercier had a long career on stage before her television career.

Donald Wolfit Sir Donald Wolfit (born Donald Woolfitt; 20 April 1902 – 17 February 1968) was an English actor-manager, known for his touring productions of Shakespeare. He was especially renowned for his portrayal of King Lear. Born to a conventional midd ...

had talent spotted her and she toured with Wolfit's own Shakespeare company in 1939. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she joined the

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the British Royal Air Force during the World War II, Second World War. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 181,000 at its peak ...

(WAAF) division of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. She served in

RAF Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It operated throughout the Second World War, winning fame during the Battle of Britain in 1940. The ...

, and rose to become an

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

. After the war, she worked in repertory theatre until 1951, receiving positive reviews from critics. One review said of her performance in '' The Enchanted Cottage'' in 1948, "Sheila Rix is outstanding as the witch-like housekeeper." In Noël Coward's ''

Hay Fever Allergic rhinitis, of which the seasonal type is called hay fever, is a type of rhinitis, inflammation in the nose that occurs when the immune system overreacts to allergens in the air. It is classified as a Allergy, type I hypersensitivity re ...

'' at the Tonbridge Repertory Theatre the same year, a review said, "Sheila Rix superbly portrays the ex-actress, extremely emotional mother of the family." About Cocteau's '' The Eagle with Two Heads'', another review said, "The number of repertory companies who have dealt with this striking play has been very small. Notable in the cast was Sheila Rix as the tragic Queen, who held her audience throughout." From 1951 until 1972, she worked with her brother Brian Rix in the

Whitehall farce The Whitehall farces were a series of five long-running comic stage plays at the Whitehall Theatre in London, presented by the actor-manager Brian Rix, in the 1950s and 1960s. They were in the low comedy tradition of British farce, following the ...

s, both at the Whitehall Theatre itself, on tour to regional theatres, and in televised performances on BBC Television. Critics commented, "Sheila Mercier .. sup to the second in tempo and sense of fun;" "In ''Chase Me, Comrade!'', Jacqueline Ellis and Helen Jesson as well as Sheila Mercier, all contribute mightily to the fun with excellent work;" and "Sheila Mercier is refreshingly sane as the commander's wife." She also appeared in the television series ''Dial RIX'' (1963) alongside her husband, Peter Mercier. In 1972, she was cast in the role she is best known for, the

matriarch Matriarchy is a social system in which positions of power and privilege are held by women. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege, and control of property. While those definitions apply in general English, ...

Annie Sugden, one of the principal characters in the new British

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

''Emmerdale Farm'' (later simply ''

''). She appeared as a main cast member until 1994 with rare occasional appearances later including the funeral for on-screen son Joe in June 1995, along with screen husband Amos Brearly. In 1979, Hazel Holt in ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. Founded in 1880, ''The Stage'' contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at thos ...

'' wrote: "I never cease to admire the sheer consistency of Sheila Mercier's performance as Annie Sugden in Yorkshire's Emmerdale Farm. ... Every Tuesday and Friday, week in and week out she is never less than convincing." Mercier later reprised her role several times following the character's 1994 retirement.

Personal life and death

In 1951, Mercier married actor Peter Mercier. They were married for 42 years until his death in 1993. The couple's son, Nigel Mercier (6 December 1954 – 6 January 2017), also worked in the TV industry, initially with BBC Television News at Television Centre as a videotape editor and then at LWT. In 1994 Mercier's autobiography, ''Annie's Song: My Life & Emmerdale'', written with

Anthony Hayward Anthony Hayward (born 26 October 1959) is a British journalist and author. He is a regular contributor to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Daily Telegraph'', and has written more than 20 books about television and film. The subjects of justice and ce ...

, was published. In it, she disclosed that she had been raped by an officer early in the Second World War, had become pregnant and given her baby daughter up for adoption. She had been contacted by her daughter thirty years later. The two women became close friends. She died on 4 December 2019.

Filmography

Selected stage performances

Selected Whitehall farces

Selected filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mercier, Sheila 1919 births 2019 deaths 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses 20th-century English memoirists 20th-century English women writers Actresses from Kingston upon Hull English women centenarians English film actresses English soap opera actresses English stage actresses English television actresses People from Hunmanby British women in World War II British women memoirists Royal Air Force airmen Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Military personnel from Kingston upon Hull Rix family