Sheila White (actress)
Encyclopedia
Sheila White is an English
actress and West End
musical star. She is married to the former theatre producer Richard M. Mills and lives in Kingston, Surrey.
. She began her career at the age of twelve in the pantomime Cinderella
at the Golders Green Hippodrome
starring Arthur Askey
as a member of Terry's Juveniles. This led to an audition for the London production of The Sound of Music
at the Palace Theatre
where she played the parts of Brigitta and Louisa for three years. She then became a student at the Corona Stage School
in Hammersmith, West London.
At sixteen she was still playing child parts as she appeared young for her age and the start of her television career was in Z-Cars
with Malcolm McDowell
. A theatre tour of Counter Crime followed and the musical tour of The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd
starring Norman Wisdom
and Willoughby Goddard, written by Leslie Bricusse
and Anthony Newley
, playing one of the urchins with Elaine Paige
and choreography by Gillian Lynne
. Sheila White's big break came playing the part of Eileen in the musical On The Level
at the Saville Theatre
. She was taken out of the chorus and the song "Bleep - Bleep", was written especially for her. This song proved to be a show-stopper, making Sheila White's name in the West End Theatre. This success led to the part of Bet, Nancy's best friend in Lionel Bart
's film musical Oliver!
, accompanying Shani Wallis
as Nancy and Mark Lester
as Oliver in the songs "It's a Fine Life" and "I'd Do Anything
".
she played leading roles as Polly in The Ghost Goes Gear
with the Spencer Davis Group, Paula in Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush in 1967 with Barry Evans, Norma in Alfie Darling
(1975) and Tulip in Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter
for MGM. Sheila White is also known for portraying Alisande in The Spaceman and King Arthur for Walt Disney Productions, and comedy roles in movies like Confessions of a Pop Performer
.
in The Love School
. Her most memorable performance was as Messalina, the cousin of Caligula (John Hurt
) and wife of Claudius (Derek Jacobi
) in the BBC classic serial I, Claudius
(1976), written by Jack Pulman
from the Robert Graves
novels I Claudius and Claudius the God, and directed by Herbert Wise
. In EastEnders
she played Carol Hanley, biological mother of Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean
).
Other television credits include her role as Keren Daniel in the Poldark
series for BBC, as herself in the variety musical series The Songwriters, and Annie Miller, in The Brotherhood - Pre-Raphaelites - Aka Love School for the BBC directed by Piers Haggard
. Sheila White also played the leading role as Dixie in Don't Rock the Boat, a comedy series for Thames Television directed by Mark Stuart. She also starred in Whizzkid's Guide a children's comedy series for Anglia Television, as Moyra Sheffield in Framed for ITV, written by Lynda La Plante
, as Sharon Nightingale in Series 1 episode Monday Night Fever of Minder
and as Vivien McKewan in Dear Mother ...Love Albert for Thames Television
, Mildred in ITV Saturday Night Theatre - The Funeral of Queen Victoria, directed by Tania Lieven and The Good Old Days
with Leonard Sachs
and Frankie Vaughan
.
in The Biograph Girl
for Harold Fielding
, directed by Victor Spinetti
; Eileen Wells in On The Level
; Young Belle in Little Me
; Ruby in the London production of Dames At Sea
; Samantha in Queen Daniella with Danny La Rue
and Sonia Walsk; and the British production of They're Playing Our Song
. White also performed with David Essex
in the film Silver Dream Racer
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actress and West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
musical star. She is married to the former theatre producer Richard M. Mills and lives in Kingston, Surrey.
Early life and career
White was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. She began her career at the age of twelve in the pantomime Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
at the Golders Green Hippodrome
Golders Green Hippodrome
Golders Green Hippodrome was built in 1913 by Bertie Crewe as a 3000-seat Music Hall, to serve North London and the new tube rail expansion into Golders Green....
starring Arthur Askey
Arthur Askey
Arthur Bowden Askey CBE was a prominent English comedian.- Life and career :Askey was born at 29 Moses Street, Liverpool, the eldest child and only son of Samuel Askey , secretary of the firm Sugar Products of Liverpool, and his wife, Betsy Bowden , of Knutsford, Cheshire...
as a member of Terry's Juveniles. This led to an audition for the London production of The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
at the Palace Theatre
Palace Theatre, London
The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. It is an imposing red-brick building that dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus and is located near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road...
where she played the parts of Brigitta and Louisa for three years. She then became a student at the Corona Stage School
Corona Stage Academy
Corona Stage Academy also known as The Corona Stage School was a successful British drama school founded by Miss Rona Knight in the mid 1940's. The school started in Chiswick before later moving to 16 Ravenscourt Avenue, Hammersmith in 1955...
in Hammersmith, West London.
At sixteen she was still playing child parts as she appeared young for her age and the start of her television career was in Z-Cars
Z-Cars
Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
with Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...
. A theatre tour of Counter Crime followed and the musical tour of The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd
The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd
The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. The musical is best known for producing the standards "Who Can I Turn To?" and "Feeling Good." The show title is a transposition of the phrase "the smell of the...
starring Norman Wisdom
Norman Wisdom
Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, OBE was an English actor, comedian and singer-songwriter best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring his hapless onscreen character Norman Pitkin...
and Willoughby Goddard, written by Leslie Bricusse
Leslie Bricusse
Leslie Bricusse is an English composer, lyricist, and playwright.Although best known for his partnership with Anthony Newley, Bricusse has worked with many other composers. He was educated at University College School in London and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge...
and Anthony Newley
Anthony Newley
Anthony George Newley was an English actor, singer and songwriter. He enjoyed success as a performer in such diverse fields as rock and roll and stage and screen acting.-Early life:...
, playing one of the urchins with Elaine Paige
Elaine Paige
Elaine Paige OBE is an English singer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, North London, Paige attended the Aida Foster stage school, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16...
and choreography by Gillian Lynne
Gillian Lynne
Gillian Barbara Lynne , CBE, born , is a British ballerina, dancer, actor, theatre director, television director and choreographer noted for her popular theatre choreography associated with the iconic musicals Cats and the current longest running show in Broadway history, The Phantom of the Opera.-...
. Sheila White's big break came playing the part of Eileen in the musical On The Level
On The Level
On The Level is the eighth Status Quo studio album. It features Francis Rossi, Richard Parfitt, Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan. The album's cover art features band members in an Ames room, and on the original vinyl release, the inner gatefold sleeve consisted of informal photos members of the...
at the Saville Theatre
Saville Theatre
The Saville Theatre is a former West End theatre at 135 Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. The theatre opened in 1931, and became a music venue during the 1960s, finally being converted to a cinema in 1970.-Theatre years:...
. She was taken out of the chorus and the song "Bleep - Bleep", was written especially for her. This song proved to be a show-stopper, making Sheila White's name in the West End Theatre. This success led to the part of Bet, Nancy's best friend in Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart was a writer and composer of British pop music and musicals, best known for creating the book, music and lyrics for Oliver!-Early life:...
's film musical Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
, accompanying Shani Wallis
Shani Wallis
Shani Wallis is an English actress and singer.Wallis was born in Tottenham, London. Making her first stage appearance at the age of four, she later studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art on a scholarship...
as Nancy and Mark Lester
Mark Lester
Mark Lester is an English former child actor known for playing the title role in the 1968 musical film version of Oliver! and starring in a number of other British and European films of the 1960s and 70s and in a number of television series.-Early life and film career:Lester was born in Oxford,...
as Oliver in the songs "It's a Fine Life" and "I'd Do Anything
I'd Do Anything (song)
"I'd Do Anything" is a song performed by various characters in the 1960 British musical Oliver! and the 1968 film of the same name.-Song:...
".
Filmography
After Oliver!Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
she played leading roles as Polly in The Ghost Goes Gear
The Ghost Goes Gear
The Ghost Goes Gear is a 1966 British musical comedy film directed by Hugh Gladwish and starring the Spencer Davis Group, Sheila White and Nicholas Parsons. A music group go to stay at the childhood home of their manager, a haunted manor house in the English countryside.-Cast:* Spencer Davis Group...
with the Spencer Davis Group, Paula in Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush in 1967 with Barry Evans, Norma in Alfie Darling
Alfie Darling
Alfie Darling is a 1975 British comedy drama film directed by Ken Hughes. It is the sequel to the 1966 film Alfie. This time Alan Price takes over Michael Caine's role of Alfie....
(1975) and Tulip in Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter
Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter (film)
Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter is a 1968 British comedy film starring Peter Noone. The film showcases the British rock band, Herman's Hermits.-Cast:*Peter Noone – Herman Tulley*Keith Hopwood – Keith*Derek Leckenby – Derek*Karl Green – Karl...
for MGM. Sheila White is also known for portraying Alisande in The Spaceman and King Arthur for Walt Disney Productions, and comedy roles in movies like Confessions of a Pop Performer
Confessions of a Pop Performer
Confessions of a Pop Performer is a 1975 British sex-farce film. This second instalment continues the erotic adventures of Timothy Lea and is based on the novels written under the name by Christopher Wood. In this case, the original novel was called Confessions from the Pop Scene, but was later...
.
Television
In 1975 Sheila White played Annie MillerAnnie Miller
Annie Miller was an English artists' model who, among others, sat for the members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais. Her on-off relationship with Holman Hunt has been dramatised several times.-Early life:Annie Miller was born in...
in The Love School
The Love School
The Love School is a BBC television drama series originally broadcast in 1975 about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, written by John Hale, Ray Lawler, Robin Chapman and John Prebble. It was directed by Piers Haggard, John Glenister and Robert Knights. It was shown during January and February 1975...
. Her most memorable performance was as Messalina, the cousin of Caligula (John Hurt
John Hurt
John Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
) and wife of Claudius (Derek Jacobi
Derek Jacobi
Sir Derek George Jacobi, CBE is an English actor and film director.A "forceful, commanding stage presence", Jacobi has enjoyed a highly successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Oedipus the King. He received a Tony Award for his performance in...
) in the BBC classic serial I, Claudius
I, Claudius (TV series)
I, Claudius is a 1976 BBC Television adaptation of Robert Graves' I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Written by Jack Pulman, it proved one of the corporation's most successful drama serials of all time...
(1976), written by Jack Pulman
Jack Pulman
Jack Pulman was an award-winning British television screenwriter, most famous for the critically acclaimed 1976 BBC television series, I, Claudius, based on the novel of the same name by Robert Graves....
from the Robert Graves
Robert Graves
Robert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works...
novels I Claudius and Claudius the God, and directed by Herbert Wise
Herbert Wise
Herbert Wise is an Austrian-born film and television producer and director.He was born as Herbert Weisz in Vienna, Austria and began his career as a director at Shrewsbury Repertory Company in 1950. He was at Hull Rep and then as Director of Productions at Dundee Rep 1952-55...
. In EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
she played Carol Hanley, biological mother of Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean
Letitia Dean
Letitia Dean is an English actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Sharon Watts in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, who was one of the serial's original characters. Dean was part of the original cast in 1985 and remained in the series until 1995...
).
Other television credits include her role as Keren Daniel in the Poldark
Poldark
Poldark is a BBC television series based on the novels written by Winston Graham which was first transmitted in the UK between 1975 and 1977.-Outline:...
series for BBC, as herself in the variety musical series The Songwriters, and Annie Miller, in The Brotherhood - Pre-Raphaelites - Aka Love School for the BBC directed by Piers Haggard
Piers Haggard
Piers Inigo Haggard is a British film and television director, although he has worked mostly in the latter medium.He is the great grandnephew of H...
. Sheila White also played the leading role as Dixie in Don't Rock the Boat, a comedy series for Thames Television directed by Mark Stuart. She also starred in Whizzkid's Guide a children's comedy series for Anglia Television, as Moyra Sheffield in Framed for ITV, written by Lynda La Plante
Lynda La Plante
Lynda La Plante, CBE is an English author, screenwriter and former actress, best known for writing the Prime Suspect television crime series....
, as Sharon Nightingale in Series 1 episode Monday Night Fever of Minder
Minder (TV series)
Minder is a British comedy-drama about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television and shown on ITV...
and as Vivien McKewan in Dear Mother ...Love Albert for Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
, Mildred in ITV Saturday Night Theatre - The Funeral of Queen Victoria, directed by Tania Lieven and The Good Old Days
The Good Old Days
The Good Old Days is a popular BBC television light entertainment programme which ran from 1953 to 1983.It was performed at the Leeds City Varieties and recreated an authentic atmosphere of the Victorian–Edwardian music hall with songs and sketches of the era performed by present-day...
with Leonard Sachs
Leonard Sachs
Leonard Sachs was a British actor.-Early life and career:Sachs was born in South Africa in the town of Roodepoort, Transvaal...
and Frankie Vaughan
Frankie Vaughan
Frankie Vaughan, CBE, DL was an English singer of traditional pop music, who issued more than 80 recordings in his lifetime. He was known as "Mr. Moonlight" after one of his early hits.-Life and career:...
.
Theatre
White's extensive theatre credits as a leading lady include playing Mary PickfordMary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
in The Biograph Girl
The Biograph Girl
The Biograph Girl is a musical with a book by Warner Brown, lyrics by Brown and David Heneker, and music by Heneker. Its plot focuses on the silent film era and five pioneers of American cinema - actresses Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish, directors D.W...
for Harold Fielding
Harold Fielding
Harold Lewis Fielding was an English theatre producer.Fielding was one of Britain's foremost theatrical producers who produced several musicals, including Mame, Charlie Girl, Half a Sixpence, Show Boat, Scarlett, Barnum, Sweet Charity, The Biograph Girl, and Ziegfeld.The son of a stockbroker,...
, directed by Victor Spinetti
Victor Spinetti
Victor Spinetti is a Welsh comic actor.-Early life:Spinetti was born in Cwm, Ebbw Vale, Wales of Welsh and Italian heritage from a grandfather who was said to have walked from Italy to Wales to work as a coal miner...
; Eileen Wells in On The Level
On The Level
On The Level is the eighth Status Quo studio album. It features Francis Rossi, Richard Parfitt, Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan. The album's cover art features band members in an Ames room, and on the original vinyl release, the inner gatefold sleeve consisted of informal photos members of the...
; Young Belle in Little Me
Little Me
Little Me was the parody "confessional" self-indulgent autobiography of "Belle Poitrine" , subtitled The Intimate Memoirs of the Great Star of Stage, Screen and Television, by Patrick Dennis, who had achieved a great success with Auntie Mame...
; Ruby in the London production of Dames At Sea
Dames at Sea
Dames at Sea is a musical with book and lyrics by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller and music by Jim Wise.The musical is a parody of large, flashy 1930s Busby Berkeley-style movie musicals in which an understudy steps into a role on Broadway and becomes a star...
; Samantha in Queen Daniella with Danny La Rue
Danny La Rue
Danny La Rue, OBE was an Irish-born British entertainer known for his singing and drag impersonations.-Early life:...
and Sonia Walsk; and the British production of They're Playing Our Song
They're Playing Our Song
They're Playing Our Song is a musical with a book by Neil Simon, lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager, and music by Marvin Hamlisch.In a story based on the real-life relationship of Hamlisch and Sager, a wisecracking composer finds a new, offbeat lyricist, but initially the match is not one made in heaven...
. White also performed with David Essex
David Essex
David Essex OBE is an English musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Since the 1970s, Essex has attained nineteen Top 40 singles in the UK , and sixteen Top 40 albums...
in the film Silver Dream Racer
Silver Dream Racer
Silver Dream Racer is a film starring David Essex and Beau Bridges. Essex stars as Nick Freeman, a motorcycle racer who, following the death of his brother, inherits a revolutionary prototype motorcycle, and is determined to race it at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.The opening title scenes...
.
External links
- http://www.sheilawhite.co.uk