Sheila Betty Mercier (née Rix; 1 January 1919 – 4 December 2019)[1][2] 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.
[3] 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.
During the Second World War she joined the WAAF division of the Royal Air Force,[5] serving in fighter command,[5] eventually becoming adjutant.
"[6] In Noël Coward's Hay Fever at the Tonbridge Repertory Theatre the same year, a review said, "Sheila Rix superbly portrays the ex-actress, extremely emotional mother of the family.
"[7] About Cocteau's The Eagle with Two Heads, another review said, "The number of repertory companies who have dealt with this striking play has been very small.
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.