# Sondra James

Sondra James (July 21, 1939 – September 12, 2021) was an American sound coordinator and actress.

## Early life

Sondra James was born Sondra Weil on July 21, 1939, in the Lower East Side, New York City. She graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1955 before taking a double major in anthropology and archaeology at City College of New York.

## Career

James began work as an actor, first starring in Mighty Aphrodite in 1995. Following this, she consistently worked as a character actor and voice actress across film, television, and stage, including the national tour of Funny Girl in 1996. In the 1990s, she founded the loop recording company Speakeasy, which provides audio recording for film and television. Within Speakeasy, James took on various sound department roles, including loop coordinator, voice casting, and ADR casting. She was often involved with casting Coen brothers films. As of 2021, the company has provided audio for over 500 films and television shows. James also provided additional voices for several of the productions the company looped. While James and Speakeasy were successful in the 1990s, she was often upset that she struggled to find acting jobs.
James played the main role of Auntie Norma in Karl Pilkington's British comedy Sick of It; the production decided to use an American actress because there were limited elderly British actors, and these would all be recognizable to a British audience, which Pilkington felt would be distracting. He was shown a picture of James and immediately liked the look of her, knowing he didn't want the character to appear mundane.
In 2020, she was one of the group of actors who brought a class-action lawsuit against SAG-AFTRA Health Fund for imposing penalties on performers over 65 in a health plan restructure supposedly helping cover COVID-19.

## Personal life

James had two sons, Michael and Marc. She had five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren at the time of her death. She was a fan of the New York Yankees.

## Death

James died at her home in New York City on September 12, 2021, aged 82, from lung cancer, which had been diagnosed five months earlier.

## Filmography
### Film

Sourced to BFI and TV Guide unless noted
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1982 | Muggable Mary: Street Cop | Neighbor Woman | Television film |
| 1992 | This Is My Life | | Additional voices |
| 1992 | Whispers in the Dark | | Additional voices |
| 1995 | Mighty Aphrodite | Operator; Chorus voices | |
| 2000 | Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 | Actor/Leader | |
| 2000 | Cecil B. Demented | | Additional voices |
| 2004 | Alfie | Mrs. Liberman | |
| 2004 | Because of Winn-Dixie | | Additional voices |
| 2005 | Robots | Additional voices | |
| 2006 | The Devil Wears Prada | | Additional voices |
| 2006 | Everyone's Hero | | Additional voices |
| 2008 | Marley & Me | | Additional voices |
| 2008 | Breaking Upwards | | |
| 2009 | Everybody's Fine | | Additional voices |
| 2009 | Taking Woodstock | Margaret | |
| 2010 | Going the Distance | Elderly Woman | |
| 2010 | Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps | Lady at Book Signing | |
| 2011 | What's Your Number? | | |
| 2011 | Top Cat: The Movie | | Additional voices |
| 2012 | The Dictator | Friendly Customer | |
| 2012 | Sleepwalk with Me | Colleen | |
| 2012 | Ice Age: Continental Drift | | Additional voices |
| 2012 | Putzel | Mrs. Hertzel | |
| 2014 | America 1979 | Mrs. Ambrose | Short film |
| 2014 | The Cobbler | Anna Stevens | |
| 2014 | Growing Up and Other Lies | Barb | |
| 2016 | C Street | Mrs. Plumbcot | |
| 2016 | Don't Think Twice | Bonnie | |
| 2016 | Kikoriki: Legend of the Golden Dragon | Olga | Voice; animation |
| 2017 | Lost Cat Corona | Sal's Mother | |
| 2017 | Spider-Man: Homecoming | Marjorie | |
| 2017 | Keep the Change | Sarah's Grandma | |
| 2017 | Active Adults | Rose | |
| 2018 | The Escape of Prisoner 614 | Maria | |
| 2018 | Lez Bomb | | |
| 2018 | Kikoriki: Deja Vu | Olga | Voice; animation |
| 2019 | Joker | Dr. Sally Friedman | |
| 2019 | The Climb | Grandma | |
| 2020 | Shiva Baby | Maureen | |
| 2021 | Making the Day | | |
| 2021 | Dating and New York | Real Estate Mogul | |
| 2021 | The Tender Bar | Grandma Moehringer | Posthumous release |

### Television

Sourced to Deadline and TV Guide unless noted
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1999 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Agnes Rosen | episode: "Hysteria" |
| 2000 | Sex and the City | | |
| 2001 | Law & Order | | |
| 2003 | Kikoriki | Olga | Voice (Fun Union Dub) |
| 2003 | Pokémon | Nanny | Voice; animation; episode: "147" |
| 2003 | Squeak! | | Voice; animation |
| 2012 | Girls | | |
| 2013 | Blue Bloods | | |
| 2014 | Lucky 7 | | |
| 2014 | The Mysteries of Laura | | |
| 2016 | Crisis in Six Scenes | | |
| 2018–2020 | Sick of It | Auntie Norma | Main role |
| 2020 | What We Do in the Shadows | Joan | Episode: "Brain Scramblies" |
| | 30 Rock | | |
| | Ray Donovan | | |
| | At Home with Amy Sedaris | | |

### Commercials

| Year | Company | Role | Notes |
| 2001 | BMW | Backseat Grandma | BMW X5 commercials: "Awkward Grandma", "Moonroof", "Heads Up" |

### Video games

Sourced to Anime News Network unless noted
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2001 | Grand Theft Auto III | Ma Cipriani | |
| 2005 | Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories | Ma Cipriani | |

### Stage

Sourced to The Hollywood Reporter unless noted
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1996 | Funny Girl | National tour |
| 2002 | The Tale of the Allergist's Wife | Tour |

### As sound department
#### Film

Sourced to BFI unless noted
| Year | Title |
| 1990 | Green Card |
| 1993 | The Night We Never Met |
| 1995 | Before and After |
| 1998 | Primary Colors |
| 1999 | Music of the Heart |
| 1999 | Ride with the Devil |
| 1999 | The Talented Mr. Ripley |
| 1999 | The Best Man |
| 1999 | The Deep End of the Ocean |
| 1999 | Bowfinger |
| 1999 | The Astronaut's Wife |
| 1999 | The Sixth Sense |
| 2000 | American Psycho |
| 2000 | Down to You |
| 2000 | O Brother, Where Art Thou? |
| 2000 | Mission to Mars |
| 2001 | The Man Who Wasn't There |
| 2001 | Double Whammy |
| 2001 | The Royal Tenenbaums |
| 2002 | K-19: The Widowmaker |
| 2002 | Two Weeks Notice |
| 2002 | Secretary |
| 2002 | Murd3r by Numb8rs |
| 2003 | Intolerable Cruelty |
| 2004 | Secret Window |
| 2004 | The Manchurian Candidate |
| 2004 | Because of Winn-Dixie |
| 2004 | The Stepford Wives |
| 2005 | Transamerica |
| 2005 | The Notorious Bettie Page |
| 2005 | Last Holiday |
| 2005 | Prime |
| 2006 | A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints |
| 2006 | Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus |
| 2006 | World Trade Center |
| 2006 | Trust the Man |
| 2006 | The Sentinel |
| 2006 | Hollywoodland |
| 2006 | Failure to Launch |
| 2006 | Man of the Year |
| 2006 | The Devil Wears Prada |
| 2007 | Tenderness |
| 2007 | Savage Grace |
| 2007 | American Gangster |
| 2007 | Grace is Gone |
| 2007 | Teeth |
| 2007 | Music and Lyrics |
| 2007 | Evening |
| 2007 | Married Life |
| 2007 | Hot Rod |
| 2007 | Stop-Loss |
| 2007 | Perfect Stranger |
| 2007 | The Girl in the Park |
| 2007 | Awake |
| 2008 | Soul Men |
| 2008 | The Reader |
| 2008 | Doubt |
| 2008 | Carriers |
| 2008 | The Happening |
| 2009 | Away We Go |
| 2009 | Taking Woodstock |
| 2009 | Julie & Julia |
| 2009 | A Serious Man |
| 2009 | Everybody's Fine |
| 2009 | Did You Hear About the Morgans? |
| 2010 | True Grit |
| 2010 | The Bounty Hunter |
| 2010 | Dear John |
| 2011 | Margaret |
| 2011 | The Big Year |
| 2013 | Inside Llewyn Davis |

#### Television

Sourced to Deadline unless noted
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1991–1995 | The Heroic Legend of Arslan | |
| 1998–2004 | Sex and the City | |
| 2012 | Royal Pains | 6 episodes |
| | Bored to Death | |
| | Boardwalk Empire | |
| | Smash | |
| | Damages | |
| | Nurse Jackie | |