Benedict Cumberbatch opens up on recent, tragic loss
Watch: Benedict Cumberbatch pays tribute to late sister
Benedict Cumberbatch has paid tribute to his late half-sister, Tracy Peacock. The talented artist died aged 62, after a seven year battle with cancer.
Tracy was the daughter of Benedict's mother Wanda Ventham, and her first husband, James Tabernacle. The couple divorced in 1970 and Wanda married Timothy Carlton, Benedict's dad. Despite the age difference between the half-siblings, she and Benedict had a strong bond, he has said.
Tracy was just thirteen when Wanda met Timothy in Ireland while filming sequences for A Family At War in 1972. Timothy and Wanda married in 1976 and Benedict was born that year.
Tracey lived at home with their mother and stepfather, and used to babysit for him. She once left him on the roof as a joke, only later realising it had started to snow.
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"I mean, it was funny," Cumberbatch has said. "She was in the kitchen with her friends and she suddenly saw the snow falling through the window."
The two remained close, and the actor has not talked about her death until now.
"She died of cancer," Benedict revealed. "She'd been battling it for seven years. As the greatly awful Donald Rumsfeld said, 'stuff happens'. It's horrible."
"She was a brilliant fine artist but ended up doing a lot of restorative work on canvas and on frames and carpentry.
"But still kept her hand in and did her own work and made the most Christmas and celebratory cards of any kind of festival. She was very gifted."
Tracey lived in Wiltshire. She also worked as a picture frame restorer, was married and had a 34 year old daughter, Emily.
Her life was a far cry from her half-brother's A-list whirl of public success. Paying tribute, he added, "She was nothing to do with this (acting) world. She was markedly different."
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