Sid James

For other people named Sidney James, seeSidney James (disambiguation).

Sid James
James in 1974
Born	Solomon Joel Cohen (1913-05-08)8 May 1913 Johannesburg,South Africa
Died	26 April 1976(1976-04-26)(aged 62) Sunderland,England
Resting place	Golders Green Crematorium,London,England
Occupation(s)	Actor, comedian
Years active	1947-1976
Spouses	Berthe Sadie Delmont ​ ​ (m.1936;div.1940)​ Meg Williams ​ ​ (m.1943;div.1952)​ Valerie Ashton ​ (m.1952)​
Children	4; includingReina

Sidney James(bornSolomon Joel Cohen;8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a South African-British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. Noted for his distinct dirty laugh, he was best known for numerous roles in theCarry Onfilm series.

Born to a middle-class Jewish family in South Africa, James started his career in his native country before finding his greatest success in the UK. Beginning his screen career playing bit parts in films from 1947, he was cast in numerous small and supporting roles into the 1950s. He appeared in the filmThe Lavender Hill Mobin 1951, starringAlec Guinness.

His profile was raised asTony Hancock's co-star inHancock's Half Hour,first in the radio series and later when it was adapted for television and ran from 1954 to 1960. Afterwards, he became known as a regular performer in theCarry Onfilms, appearing in 19 films of the series, with thetop billingroles in 17 (in the other two he was cast belowFrankie Howerd).

His starring roles intelevision sitcomscontinued. He starred in the 1970s sitcomBless This Houseuntil his death in 1976.

Early life

James was born Solomon Joel Cohen on 8 May 1913, toJewishparents inSouth Africa,then aBritishdominion,later changing his name to Sidney Joel Cohen, and thenSidney James.His family lived on Hancock Street inHillbrow,Johannesburg.He claimed various previous occupations, includingdiamond cutter,dance tutor and boxer,but in reality had trained and worked as a hairdresser.

It was at a hairdressing salon inKroonstad,Orange Free State,that he met his first wife. He married Berthe Sadie Delmont, known as Toots, on 12 August 1936 and they had a daughter, Elizabeth, born in 1937. His father-in-law, Joseph Delmont, a Johannesburg businessman, bought a hairdressing salon for James, but within a year he announced that he wanted to become an actor and joined the Johannesburg Repertory Players. Through this group, he gained work with theSouth African Broadcasting Corporation.Toots divorced him in 1940.

DuringWorld War II,he served as a lieutenant in theUnion Defence Force Entertainment Unitin South Africa's army, and subsequently took up acting as a career. He moved to the United Kingdom in December 1946, financed by his service gratuity. Initially, he worked inrepertorybefore being spotted for the nascent British post-war film industry.

Career

From 1947 to 1968

James made his first credited film appearances inNight BeatandBlack Memoryin 1947, both crime dramas. He played the alcoholic hero's barman inPowell and Pressburger'sThe Small Back Roomin 1949.The Lavender Hill Mobin 1951 was his first comedy film, ranked 17th out of the 100 best British films by theBritish Film Institute:withAlfie Bass,he made up the bullion robbery gang headed byAlec GuinnessandStanley Holloway.He also appeared inLady Godiva Rides AgainandThe Galloping Major,both films were released in 1951, and as Harry Hawkins inThe Titfield Thunderbolt(1953), and also had a lead role inThe Wedding of Lilli Marlene.He featured in another Alec Guinness film,Father Brown(US:The Detective,1954) and inTrapeze(1956) as Harry the snake charmer, a circus film which was one of the most successful films of its year, and he played Master Henry in "Outlaw Money" (also 1956), an episode ofThe Adventures of Robin Hood.

James had a supporting part as a TV advertisement producer inCharlie Chaplin'sA King in New York,a non-comic supporting role as a journalist in the science-fiction filmQuatermass 2,and he performed inHell Drivers(all 1957), a film withStanley Baker.The next year, James starred withMiriam KarlininEast End, West EndbyWolf Mankowitz,a half-hour comedy series for theITVcompanyAssociated Rediffusion.Set within the Jewish community of London's East End, the series of six episodes was transmitted in February and March 1958, but plans for further episodes were abandoned after a disappointing response. For a while though, it had looked as if his commitment elsewhere might end his work with Tony Hancock, one of the most popular television comedians of the time.

He had begun working with Tony Hancock in 1954, in hisBBC RadioseriesHancock's Half Hour.Having seen him inThe Lavender Hill Mob,it was the idea of Hancock's writers,Galton and Simpson,to cast James. He played a character with his own name (but having the invented middle name Balmoral) who was a petty criminal and would usually manage to con Hancock in some way, although the character eventually ceased to be Hancock's adversary. With the exception of James, the other regular cast members of the radio series were dropped when the series made the transition to television. His part in the show now greatly increased and many viewers came to think of Hancock and James as a double act.

Tony Hancock(right) with James inHancock's Half Hour

Feeling the format had become exhausted, Hancock decided to end his professional relationship with James at the end of the sixth television series in 1960. Although the two men remained friends, James was upset at his colleague's decision. The experience led to a shift away from the kind of roles for which he had become best known. He remained the lovable rogue but was keen to steer clear of criminal characters - in 1960 he turned down the part of Fagin in the original West End staging ofOliver!for that very reason.Galton and Simpson continued to write for both James and Hancock for a while, and the Sidney Balmoral James character resurfaced in theCitizen James(1960–1962) series. Sid James was now consistently taking the lead role in his television work.Taxi!(1963–64) was his next series. A comedy-drama rather than a sitcom, it was created byTed Willis,but although it ran to two series, the programme was not particularly successful.

In 1964, he made his first of two appearances onTheEamonn AndrewsShow.The first few moments of the opening credits of one of them can be heard and seen in the television showUndermind,Episode 6, "Intent to Destroy", broadcast on 12 June 1965. His name is heard announced, and the show is seen on a television camera seconds later.

In 1968, James,Val DoonicanandArthur Askeywere filmed playing golf in the village ofCockingtonnearTorquay(British Pathéarchives, film reference 457.1), for their productionViva Torbay: Travelling to the British Seaside.

Carry Onfilms

James became a leading member of theCarry Onfilmsteam, originally to replaceTed Ray,who had appeared inCarry On Teacher(1959). It had been intended that Ray would become a recurring presence in theCarry Onseries, but he was dropped after just one film because of contractual problems.James ultimately made 19Carry Onfilms,receiving top billing in 17, making him one of the most featured performers of the regular cast.

The characters he portrayed in the films were usually very similar to the wise-cracking, sly, lecherous Cockney he was famed for playing on television, and in most cases they bore the name Sid or Sidney, for example, Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond inCarry On Up the Khyberand Sid Boggle inCarry On Camping.His trademark "dirty laugh" was often used and became, along with a world-weary "Cor, blimey!", his catchphrase. His laugh can be heard here[1].

There wereCarry Onfilms in which James played characters who were not called Sid or Sidney:Carry On Constable(1960), in which he played Sergeant Frank Wilkins;Carry On Henry(1971), a parody of the TV seriesThe Six Wives of Henry VIII;Carry On Abroad(1972), in which James's character was named Vic Flange; andCarry On Dick(1974), a parody version of the legend of thehighwaymanDick Turpin.InHenryandDick,James played the title roles, while inCarry On Cleohe playedMark Antony.InCarry On Cowboy(1965), he adopted anAmerican accentfor his part as "The Rumpo Kid". (James had previously played an American (with an American accent) in the filmsGive Us This Day(1949),Orders Are Orders(1954),A Yank in Ermine(1955),Wicked as They Come(1956), Chaplin'sA King in New York(1957) andAnother Time, Another Place(1958).)

Later career

In 1967, James was intending to play Sergeant Nocker inFollow That Camel,but was already committed to recording the TV seriesGeorge and the Dragon(1966–1968) forATV,then one of the ITV contractors. James was replaced inFollow That Camelby the American comic actorPhil Silvers.On 13 May 1967, two weeks after the filming began of what eventually became an entry in theCarry Onseries, James suffered a severeheart attack.In the same year inCarry On Doctor,James was shown mainly lying in a hospital bed, owing to his real-life health problems. After his heart attack, James gave up his heavy cigarette habit and instead smoked a pipe or an occasional cigar; he lost weight, ate only one main meal a day, and limited himself to two or three alcoholic drinks per evening.

His success in TV situation comedy continued with the programmesTwo in Clover(1969–70) andBless This House(1971–1976); the latter led toa film versionin 1972.

Personal life

James married three times. He and his first wife, Berthe Sadie Delmont, were married in 1936 and a daughter, Elizabeth, was born in 1937;they were divorced in 1940, mainly as a result of his many relationships with other women.

In 1943, he married a dancer, Meg Sergei (1913–1977); in 1947, they had a daughterReina.They were divorced on 17 August 1952.

On 21 August 1952, James married Valerie Elizabeth Patsy Assan (1928–2022), an actress who used Ashton as her stage name. They had a son, Steve James, born in 1954, who became a music producer,and a daughter, Sue, who became a television producer.During the latter part of their marriage, they lived in a house partly designed by James himself, Delaford Park, inIver,Buckinghamshire,a location close enough toPinewood Studiosto allow him to return home for lunch while filming. During his marriage to Valerie, he had a well-publicised affair withCarry Onco-starBarbara Windsorlasting three years.The affair was dramatised in the 1998 stage-playCleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dickand its 2000 television adaptationCor, Blimey!.

James's obsession with Windsor was such that it was rumoured that her then husbandRonnie Knighthad all of James's furniture rearranged at home as a subtle threat and, on another occasion, put an axe in James's floor,but close friends of the time, includingVince PowellandWilliam G. Stewart,dismissed the suggestions.According to hisbiographerCliff Goodwin, James struck hispregnantgirlfriend, and he also struck his first wife when she was pregnant.

James was an inveterate and largely unsuccessful gambler, losing tens of thousands of pounds over his lifetime. Hisgambling addictionwas such that he had an agreement with his agent, Michael Sullivan, under which his wife was not told how much he was being paid, so that a portion could be set aside for gambling.

Death

Four days afterBless This Houseended, James was on tour on a revival of productionThe Mating Season,on 26 April 1976 when he suffered aheart attackon stage at theSunderland Empire Theatre.ActressesOlga LoweandAudrey Jeansthought that he was playing a practical joke at first when he failed to reply to their dialogue. When he failed to reply to their ad libs, they moved towards the wings to seek help.The technical manager, Melvyn James (no relation), called for the curtain to close and requested a doctor, while the audience – who were unaware of what was happening – laughed, believing the events to be part of the show. An ambulance was called and he was pronounced dead on arrival atSunderland General Hospital.He was 62.

At the time of his death, there were negotiations held for a seventh and eighth series ofBless This House,as well as another film adaptation, to be produced along with an hour-long television variety special featuring James, but those plans were scrapped due to his death. Additionally,Bruce Forsythultimately replaced James in the leading role of the 1976 TV version ofThe Mating Seasonthat went out onITVin December of the same year.James was cremated and his ashes were scattered atGolders Green Crematorium.

Legacy

Comic Heritage plaque,Teddington,England

British Comedy Society plaque at 35, Gunnersbury Avenue

James has been the subject of at least five tribute shows: a 1996 one-off tribute,The Very Best of Sid James;as the focus of a 2000 episode of the seriesThe Unforgettable;a 2002 episode ofHeroes of Comedy;Channel Four'sWith Out Walls, Seriously Seeking Sidin the late 1980s; and in 2013, the BBC'sThe Many Faces Of Sid James.

James was played byGeoffrey HutchingsinTerry Johnson's playCleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick,which premiered at theNational Theatrein 1998. Hutchings reprised the role in the subsequent film adaptation,Cor, Blimey!.

In the 2006 BBC television filmKenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!,James was played by Ged McKenna.

In August 2018 it was announced that a radio interview which James had recorded forBBC Radio Solenton 22 March 1976 had been re-discovered during research for a forthcoming BBC radio documentary celebrating theCarry Onfilm series. The recording had been kept by BBC presenter Jeff Link, who had carried out the original interview. In the interview, James discusses his attempts to keep fit by skipping, his preference for working in films, his genuine affection for theCarry Onfilms, and other topics. The interview is notable for its relaxed, humorous style. The producer of the forthcoming BBCCarry Ondocumentary, Richard Latto, contacted James's surviving daughters after confirming the recording's authenticity. Reina James commented: "To hear him talking just before he's about to die.. there's something hugely moving about that". Sue James called the interview "lovely and sympathetic".

A Heritage Foundation commemorativeblue plaqueto James was installed at the formerTeddington Studioson Broom RoadTeddington,Greater London, until 30 June 2015 when it was stolen, just before the building was demolished to make way for housing.A further blue plaque, placed by the British Comedy Society, commemorates his time living at 35, Gunnersbury Avenue (A406,from 1956 to 1963. The first plaque here was also stolen; the second "was placed much higher up the wall"

Filmography

Main article:Sid James filmography

Further reading

• Sidney JamesatOxford Dictionary of National Biography

External links

• Sid JamesatIMDb
• Sid JamesatRotten Tomatoes