SHEILA WHITE

(18 October 1948 - 7 September 2018)

The British actress Sheila White, who has died aged 69 of heart failure, was first seen at age twelve in Cinderella, a pantomime starring Arthur Askey at the Golders Green Hippodrome. This led to an audition for The Sound of Music at London’s Palace Theatre, where she appeared for three years. Following a period at stage school she toured in more shows until her big break in the musical On the Level, in which the song ‘Beep Beep’ was written for her. Later she played Mary Pickford in The Biograph Girl musical and was in Little Me, Dames at Sea and They’re Playing Our Song. Even with leading roles in stage shows, Sheila White never really became a star. However, she worked extensively on television in such series as Z Cars, General Hospital, Poldark (1975), I, Claudius, The Bill, Minder, Casualty and EastEnders. For the cinema her first film (in 1966) was The Ghost Goes Gear with the Spencer Davis Group, followed by Mrs Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter, with Herman’s Hermits, and Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush with Barry Evans. Her best film appearances include Bet in Oliver!, Villain with Richard Burton, Nelly Kaplan’s Papa, the Little Boats, Alfie Darling with Alan Price, Silver Dream Racer with David Essex, and Disney’s The Spaceman and King Arthur. She played Rosie Noggett in four Confessions of… films – a Window Cleaner, a Pop Performer, a Driving Instructor, and … from a Holiday Camp. Sheila White was married to theatre producer Richard M. Mills and they have two sons.

MICHAEL DARVELL