[1] Nevinson was born in Chittagong, Bengal Presidency, British Raj.

[2] She was born Nancy Ezekiel, one of four children of Reemah (née Kadoorie) and David Ezekiel, members of the Baghdadi-Jewish community of Calcutta, India, during the Raj.

The family moved to London in the 1930s, where Nancy trained at RADA and took the stage name Nancy Nevinson, which she retained after her subsequent marriage to Commander William Hoyes-Cock.

[7] She appeared in the films Foxhole in Cairo (1960), Light in the Piazza (1962), Mrs. Gibbons' Boys (1962), Ring of Spies (1964),[8][9] The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), For the Love of Ada (1972), Symptoms (1974), Jesus of Nazareth (1977), S.O.S.

[12][13] Nevinson married Commander William Hoyes-Cock (1905–1973), whom she met while touring with the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) during WW2.