John Thaw was one of Britain s most versatile actors. His powerful ability to deliver award-winning, top quality performances turned him into one of the country s most bankable names. Stafford Hildred and Tim Ewbank trace Thaw s life from his humble roots and desperately unhappy childhood to his arrival as a Teddy Boy student at RADA. From there, the book charts his remarkable rise to stardom and recounts the notable successes, controversies, disasters, and sacrifices experienced along the way. Affectionate and immensely readable, this biography is based on John Thaw s own enthralling and moving memories and anecdotes, plus extensive interviews and recollections from his wife Sheila Hancock, close friends, relatives, and co-stars. John Thaw died of cancer on February 21, 2002. Both he and he wife Sheila had been fighting the disease for some years. He was 60.