Trivia

Older sister of actor Brian Rix.

Was a WAAF adjutant in the Royal Air Force's Fighter Command during WWII.

Sister-in-law of Elspet Gray.

Aunt of Louisa Rix and Jamie Rix.

Grandaunt of Ben Rix, Jack Rix, Charlotte Coy and Jolyon Coy.

Like brother Brian, she worked on stage with Donald Wolfit's company.

Mother of Nigel Mercier.

From 1951 until 1972, she worked with her brother Brian Rix in the Whitehall farces, both at the Whitehall Theatre itself, on tour to regional theatres, and in televised performances on BBC Television.

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.

She appeared in the television series Dial RIX (1963) alongside her husband, Peter Mercier.

She was an English actress, of stage and television, best known for playing Annie Sugden in the soap opera Emmerdale for over 20 years, from the programme's first episode in 1972 until the mid-1990s, with a guest return in 2009.

She was born in Hull, East Yorkshire, to Herbert Rix of the family shipbuilding company JR Rix & Sons, and his wife, Fanny (nee Nicholson), an amateur actor and singer. When Sheila was young she saw more of her nanny than her parents, and was educated at the Canonesses of St Augustine school in the city and then St Ethelburga's in Hornsea, where she began acting in school plays and performing in concerts put on by her mother.

In 1994 Mercier's autobiography, Annie's Song: My Life & Emmerdale, written with Anthony Hayward, was published. In it, she disclosed that she had been raped by an officer early in the war, had become pregnant and given her baby daughter up for adoption, and had been contacted by her daughter thirty years later. The two women became close friends.

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.".

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.