Sheila Mercier

Mercier was born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, 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 East Riding of Yorkshire), she trained for the stage at the Stratford-upon-Avon College of Drama under Randle Ayrton. ==Career==

Mercier had a long career on stage before her television career. Donald Wolfit had talent spotted her and she toured with Wolfit's own Shakespeare company 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." both at the Whitehall Theatre itself, on tour to regional theatres, and in televised performances on BBC Television. Critics commented, "Sheila Mercier ..[is] up to the second in tempo and sense of fun;" In 1972, she was cast in the role she is best known for, the matriarch Annie Sugden, one of the principal characters in the new British soap opera Emmerdale Farm (later simply Emmerdale). 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 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. The two women became close friends. She died on 4 December 2019. ==Filmography==

Selected stage performances Selected Whitehall farces Selected filmography ==References==