Carmel McSharry
Irish actress (1926-2018)

Carmel Evelyn McSharry (18 August 1926 – 4 March 2018) was an Irish character actress, best known for her roles as Beryl Humphries in Beryl's Lot (1973–77), and as Mrs. Hollingbery in In Sickness and in Health.
Early life
Carmel McSharry's parents, John McSharry and Christina Harvey were Irish. Her mother travelled back to Dublin for the birth of Carmel so that she would be born in Ireland.
Career
McSharry was chiefly known for her roles as Beryl Humphries in Beryl's Lot (1973–77), and as Mrs. Hollingbery in In Sickness and in Health. She also played bit parts in The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), 80,000 Suspects (1963) and The Leather Boys (1964).
Her television work included roles in The Liver Birds, Casualty and Z-Cars. She also appeared in the BBC play Home from Home in 1973, which also featured Yootha Joyce and Michael Robbins.
Personal life
McSharry married Derek Briggs in 1949.
The public source identifies “Carmel McSharry” as irish actress (1926-2018). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Carmel, McSharry and Irish.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5043300. VIAF identifies the subject as 4611153596640751900004. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1926, 2018, 1973 and 1961.
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This entry incorporates text from “Carmel McSharry” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.