How Benedict Cumberbatch's mother influenced every aspect of his life

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His mother Wanda Ventham, 79, is an extremely talented actress
Mother-of-two starred in UFO, Carry On films and Only Fools And Horses
Her 38-year marriage to his father Timothy is also an inspiration
The couple gave Benedict his drive to succeed in the performing arts

Published: 10:46 EST, 19 November 2014 | Updated: 03:06 EST, 20 November 2014

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The way that Benedict Cumberbatch – one of Britain’s most eligible bachelors – announced his engagement to Sophie Hunter in The Times newspaper has loudly applauded by a public sick of celebrity over-sharing.

The style is typical of the Sherlock Holmes star – unassuming and modest in comparison to his showbiz status, as was his response a question from a reporter about how he felt about breaking thousands of women’s hearts – that he had made the most important heart happier.

His charismatic personality is as much of a lure for his legions of followers as his acting prowess – an old school gentleman in a sea of brash modern males.

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Benedict's mother Wanda (left) has been a huge influence in both the star's personal and professional life. The actress had been desperate until recently for her son to settle down and have grandchildren, so was delighted to hear that he had proposed to girlfriend Sophie Hunter (right). Wanda is an extremely talented actress who tarred in UFO, Carry On films and Only Fools And Horses

He is the result of a comfortable upbringing in a loving family, where his parents are as much in love today as they were 42 years ago, but also as the son of a successful actress who was a household name in the 1970s.

So who is this woman who inspired both Benedict’s career and love life?

His mother Wanda Ventham, 79, is an extremely talented actress in her own right, with a long list of TV shows and films credits to her name.

While she was a familiar face on television throughout the 70s and 80s, Wanda is best for her role as Colonel Virginia Lake in the 1970’s sci-fi programme UFO.

One reviewer said of her performance in the show: ‘Colonel Lake is effortlessly played by the Hammer horror beauty Wanda Ventham.

‘Tall, slim and incredibly attractive, she portrayed a cool executive without losing her femininity.’

Ed Bishop and Wanda Ventham in the television series UFO in 1973

UFO wasn’t the only big name show that she featured in, from 1989 to 1992 she had a recurring role in Only Fools And Horses as Cassandra’s mother, in Heartbeat as Fiona Weston and in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates as Margaret Balshaw, to name just a few.

She also appeared in two of the Carry On films - Carry On Cleo in 1964 and Carry On Up the Khyber 1968.

Benedict has previously spoken of his embarrassment at some of his mother more raunchy roles, including a theatre part that involved her helping a cheating man to get dressed before his girlfriend returned.

He told The Sunday Times in 2010: ‘I had to say to her, sorry, Mum, I just can't bear to see that gag one more time.

‘I was so sensitive to it, she must have wondered if I was gay."

But despite cringing at some of her roles, it was Wanda and his actor father Timothy’s successful careers that convinced him to try for a career in performance art himself.

Wanda Ventham starred in the 1970's hit show UFO

Actress Wanda Ventham seen at her Kensington flat in the late 1970s

He told The Times Magazine last year: ‘What kid wouldn’t? Have you ever been backstage?

‘All the sets, with the name of the production on the back, with weights on the bottom of them, to hold them steady.

‘And in the wings, you see all that. But then you walk on stage – and you walk into a real world, for the people who are watching it. It’s amazing.’

Wanda was an extremely talented actress, with many expecting Brighton-born woman to become one of Britain’s exports to Hollywood.

But from very early on, her love of a family life battled side-by-side with her desire to perform.

Even in her earliest days of acting she always put her children first – she had to turn down an invitation to join the Royal Shakespeare Company because she was pregnant with her daughter – Benedict’s older half-sister.

Benedict has since spoken of his regret that Wanda may have missed some golden opportunities through putting the needs of others above her own.

He said: ‘I'd love her to have a 'Cranford moment', but for that you have to have a huge backlog of classical roles."

(L-R) Tom Pelphrey, Wanda Ventham, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tracie Bennett and Timothy Carlton pose backstage at the hit play "End of The Rainbow" on Broadway at The Belasco Theatre in New York on May 1, 2012

This maternal instinct overriding ambition carried on throughout Benedict’s childhood – he has spoken previously of her decision to choose commercial television over the RSC in order to provide the fees needed for his preparatory school in East Grinstead and later his scholarship place at Harrow.

A scholarship place among Britain’s super-rich has caused many in the public school system to crack, but it was Wanda and Timothy’s complete confidence in their middle-class son also helped him hold his own among the elite at the prestigious boarding school.

He told The Times that he was never bullied there because: ‘My parents loved the f*****g life out of me, so I felt confident about the world.

‘Not… entitled. Just like… I could step into the world. Investigate it.’

One area that they influenced Benedict against their better judgement though, was in his career choice.

Fully aware of the financial difficulties that came from a life in the arts, his mother tried hard to convince him that he would be more suited to a serious job.

Wanda Ventham pictured in a scene from the programme The Gold Robbers in 1969

Benedict had played along and looked into a career in law while studying at Harrow, before eventually deciding on a degree in Drama at Manchester University.

He told The Times: ‘They just saw the pitfalls of it every day. You don’t know where your next job is coming from, and it’s unstable, and you want stability for your children.’

And fortunately for the thousands of Cumberbitches out there, Benedict continued to go against his mother’s advice and forged a glittering career in film, television and theatre.

But her anti-showbiz stance has stayed with him throughout his ascent to stardom – it is one of the key reasons that he constantly shies away from the limelight and is rarely seen at a celebrity party.

Wanda’s biggest influence on her son though has got to be the example of romance that she and his father Timothy have set throughout their 38-year marriage.

The couple met while in 1972 while filming the TV drama Family At War together.

Wanda was still married to her first husband, the businessman James Tabernacle, at the time, but the union had been on the rocks for a long time and was all but finished.

Timothy and Wanda had instant chemistry on the television set and have barely been apart since – finally marrying in 1976.

Benedict's parents Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham in London in the early 1980s

The pair are hopeless romantics and for the first seven years that they were together, Timothy sent her a single rose every morning.

She told an interviewer in the late 1970s: ‘Tim is a great romantic, which is really why—in the end—I decided I would remarry.’

She got hitched in a pair of jeans held up by braces – much to the embarrassment of her daughter Tracy, who was by then a teenager.

Her fashion choices have definitely rubbed off on Benedict though – he has made it very clear before that he has little interest in high-maintenance ladies.

He told an interviewer back in 2011: ‘A woman who knows that she doesn't have to get all decked out to look good is sexy.

Wanda and Timothy lived for more than a decade in a three-bedroom flat in Kensington – until Benedict was 12 years old.

Wanda Ventham in Midsomer Murders in 2005

Without a garden of their own, Wanda took him regularly to Kensington Gardens, where he found a love for London parks – an interest that influenced the positioning of his current home next to Hampstead Heath.

As Benedict headed into his teens and enrolled at Harrow, his parents sold up and moved to a three-bedroom cottage in Gloucestershire that neighbours Kate Moss’s mansion.

While the couple also own a holiday home in Greece, Wanda mainly spends her time at the Cotswolds property, where she tends to the garden and indulges in her hobby of collecting barn owl memorabilia.

Although she claims to be retired, the actress has recently been dipping her toe back in television – most recently with a cameo on Holby City earlier this year.