Sheila Mathews

Sheila Reta Mathews (31 May 1927 – 11 August 2026) was an English actress, singer, dancer and presenter with a career on stage and screen of over 90 years believed by Equity to be the longest ever in the entertainment business.

Early life Sheila Reta Mathews was born on 31 May 1927 in Edmonton to bank clerk Walter Mathews and his wife Reta (née Adamson).

During her childhood, she took part in song-and-dance displays at the Finsbury Park Empire. Once, singing coach Marion Brown was in the audience and offered her free tuition as her mother could not afford to pay for lessons.

In 1943, aged 16, she appeared in West End's Strike a New Note in which she danced with Eric Morecambe, then known as Eric Bartholomew.

In June 2023, she received the Lifetime Achievement award from the British Music Hall Society. with whom she had two daughters, Sally and Jane.

Mathews died at home in Southwick, West Sussex, with her daughter Sally at her bedside, on 11 August 2026, following a series of strokes. She was 99.