Inside Wanda Ventham's family life - and you'll definitely recognise her very famous son

The Brighton-born actress married her first husband, James Tabernacle, in 1957. Together they welcomed a daughter called Tracy, but later divorced in 1974.

Tracy sadly died aged 62 in 2021 after a seven-year battle with cancer. In 2022, her half-brother paid a touching tribute to Tracy during his induction to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In his speech, he said: "I want to mention my sister who we lost last year. She would have loved this.

"She was unbelievably loyal, supportive, and she would have loved the glitz and the oddness and the glamour. She would have just been laughing nonstop all the way through, and probably crying."

He continued: "I hope somewhere up there, where the real stars shine, you're looking down on this moment now. I'm sure you are. We miss you so much. You remain such a good and wonderful person to have had in our lives."

Timothy is a fellow actor and is perhaps best known for starring in the likes of The Scarlet Pimpernel, Downton Abbey, Holby City, Midsomer Murders and Foyle's War.

In 1976, Wanda wed actor Timothy Carlton after the pair crossed paths on the set of A Family at War. Later that year, they went on to welcome a son called Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch, better known as Benedict Cumberbatch.

Benedict would go on to follow in his famous parents' footsteps, quickly rising to stardom thanks to his appearances in the likes of Sherlock, The Imitation Game and Doctor Strange.

When the actor kicked off his career, he originally used his middle name, Carlton. "I started off as Benedict Carlton, which is my middle name, my grandfather's name," he reportedly told film critics.

"Cumberbatch sounds like a fart in a bath… It is even funnier in an English accent. But an agent who was wiser than me told me it was a good name."  

Wanda once made a surprise cameo appearance on screen with her husband and son. In 2014, she and Timothy joined Benedict in BBC's Sherlock, portraying the detective's parents, Mr and Mrs Holmes.

Of their memorable on-screen moment, Benedict told the Press Association: "They're Equity card carrying members but you know it was nerve-wracking because they are actors as well and yet they were brilliant, and they were fantastic."

Meanwhile, during an interview with the Radio Times, the Eric star revealed: "There's a sense of being impatient. My mum says I'm much curter with her when I'm filming Sherlock."

Wanda and Timothy also appeared together in Series 2 of BBC drama, The Lotus Eaters. Wanda starred as central character Ann Shepherd while Timothy portrayed Gerald Mace.

The actor has previously spoken about the support of his parents. During an interview with The Sun, the 48-year-old recounted the emotional exchange he had with his father regarding his acting career.

"They just saw the pitfalls of it every day," he said.

"You don't know where your next job is coming from and it's unstable, into which they were having a child - me - and you want stability for your children.

"You want something better. And everything that was bad about it for them, they wanted me to be free of for me. But I just kept on doing it, kept on doing it, at school and university.

"Eventually my dad said, when I played Salieri in Amadeus, 'You are better than I was or ever will be. You will have a really good time doing this for a living.' And I cried. And from that moment I thought, 'OK, if I've got his blessing, I'm going to do it.'"