They divorced four years later.[10] He met actress Sheila Hancock in 1969 on the set of a London comedy So What About Love?[11] She was married to fellow actor Alexander "Alec" Ross, and after Thaw professed his love to Hancock, she told him that she would not have an affair.[11] After the death of her husband (from oesophageal cancer) in 1971, Thaw and Hancock married on 24 December 1973 in Cirencester,[11][12] and he remained with her until his death in 2002 (also from oesophageal cancer).[13]