Sidney James - Biography - IMDb Sidney James Biography Showing all 54 items Jump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (3) | Trade Mark (3) | Trivia (24) | Salary (18) Overview (5) 5' 8" (1.73 m) Mini Bio (1) The star of the Carry On series of films, Sid James originally came to prominence as sidekick to the ground breaking British comedy actor Tony Hancock, on both radio and then television. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa and named Solomon Joel Cohen, James arrived in England in 1946, second wife in tow, having served with the South African Army during World War 2. By now an aspiring actor, James claimed to have boxed in his youth, perhaps to explain his craggy features, but was certainly a well respected hairdresser in his native country. Known in the trade as "one take James", he became a very talented and professional actor, constantly in demand for small parts in British post-war cinema.

In 1960 James debuted in the fourth of the Carry On films, taking the lead role in Carry on Constable (1960) and went on to appear in a further 18 Carry On films as well as various stage and television spin-offs. Reputed not to have got on with Carry On co-star Kenneth Williams , the two often played adversaries on-screen, notably in the historical parodies Carry On... Up the Khyber (1968) and Carry on Pimpernel (1967). James however was respected and revered by almost everyone he worked with and contrary to popular myth, a true gentleman. An addiction to gambling played a large part in James' workaholic schedule and subsequent heart attack in 1967. He was soon back in action however, playing a hospital patient in Carry on Doctor (1967), able to spend most of the film in bed. He suffered a second and fatal heart attack on stage in Sunderland, England on April 26 1976, leaving behind 3 children and his third wife Valerie who had stuck by him despite his affair with Carry On co-star Barbara Windsor , saying, "He always came home to me".

- IMDb Mini Biography By: lyndseychris Spouse (3) ( 12 August 1936 - 1940) (divorced) (1 child) Trade Mark (3) The dirtiest laugh in film Playing lecherous comedy characters The adulterous characters he portrayed were inspired by events in his life. Trivia (24) Arrived in Britain on Dec 25th 1946, spending his army demob money on one-way tickets. Once described as "The man with a face like an unmade bed!". Voted (some time ago) to have the world's dirtiest laugh. Career prior to acting was as a top ladies' hairdresser in South Africa. Sid and Meg had a daughter Reine (named after Sid's mother) Frequently remembered as a former boxer, but he never actually was! People got that impression that he had been a boxer from his craggy features and bulbous nose. He is the father of Stephen James, a musician and sound technician who appeared on Fortran 5's debut album "Blues", in October 1991. The song "Bike" heavily sampled Sid's voice and distinctive laugh.

Also, Sidney James' portrait appears on the album cover. Collapsed and died on-stage of a heart attack while appearing in "The Mating Game" at the Empire Theatre, Sunderland. Was the regular sidekick-cum-bête noir of Tony Hancock throughout the six series of the radio series "Hancock's Half Hour". Likewise, became Hancock's regular pal in the TV series Hancock's Half Hour (1956), until the final series when Hancock decided it was getting too much like a double act. Sid was nicknamed "One take James" because he nearly always did it right first time. He was also earning the highest daily rate of any British character actor. In late 1960s, he attended a showbusiness houseparty near the Thames and, according to a TV news bulletin, was the hero of the hour because fire broke out and Sid kept dashing back indoors to help others to safety. Apparently, the emergency services had to eventually restrain him from re-entering the fire. Was infamous for using branded products in the Carry On films and advertising them. In one particular film he opened a cupboard to reveal a cupboard full of Johnny Walker Red Label Scotch Whisky.

Had an affair with "Carry On..." series star Barbara Windsor from 1973 until his death in 1976. Their life together is chronicled in the movie Cor, Blimey! (2000). Ms. Windsor is an advisor to the cast. His daughter, Sue James , is a children's TV Producer. Suffered a serious heart attack in 1967, and was therefore replaced by Phil Silvers as the star of Carry on in the Legion (1967). His son, Steve James is a music producer. His best friends were his Carry On co-stars Patsy Rowlands and Peter Butterworth . Was friends with Laurence Harvey until they worked on The Silent Enemy (1958) together. According to the book "A Biography Of Sid James", James was offered the role of Chief Petty Officer Thorpe on the recommendation of Harvey, but their friendship ended during the filming. He found Harvey to be "pompous and full of his own importance". His grandson James Wichall is a Sound Engineer. He received top-billing in 17 of the 19 "Carry On" films in which he appeared.

Frankie Howerd had that honour in Carry on Doctor (1967) and Carry on Up the Jungle (1970). He has two roles in common with Richard Burton : (1) Burton played Mark Antony in Cleopatra (1963) while James played him in Carry on Cleo (1964) and (2) Burton played King Henry VIII of England in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) while James played him in Carry on Henry VIII (1971). In both cases, James wore the costume which had originally been worn by Burton. He died only one day after Carol Reed , who directed him in both A Kid for Two Farthings (1955) and Trapeze (1956). Although he was 61 years when he played Dick Turpin in Carry on Dick (1974), Turpin was only 33 when he was hanged on April 7, 1739. Was unable to appear in Carry on Behind (1975), as he was touring Australia for a theatrical production of The Mating Season.

Was supposed to play Sergeant Ernie Knocker in Carry on in the Legion (1967), but was busy with George and the Dragon (1966). Less than two weeks into the shooting schedule, he suffered a heart attack. The role went to Phil Silvers . Was supposed to play Detective Sergeant Sidney Bung in Carry on Screaming! (1966), but dropped out when he suffered a heart attack. The role went to Harry H. Corbett . Salary (18) Who Is Sid James? - YouTube Who Is Sid James? Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Mar 31, 2015 Sid James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a South African-born English actor and comedian. Appearing in British films from 1947, he was cast in numerous small and supporting roles into the 1960s.

His profile was raised as Tony Hancock's co-star in Hancock's Half Hour, which ran on television from 1956 until 1960, and then he became known as a regular performer in the Carry On films, appearing in 19 films of the series with the top billing role in 17, in the other two he was cast below Frankie Howerd. Meanwhile, his starring roles in television sitcoms continued for the rest of his life. He starred alongside Diana Coupland in the 1970s sitcom Bless This House which aired from 1971 until James died in 1976. In 1954, he had begun working with Tony Hancock in his BBC Radio series Hancock's Half Hour. Having seen him in The Lavender Hill Mob, it was the idea of Hancock's writers, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, to cast James. He played a character with his own name (but having the invented middle name Balmoral), who was a petty criminal who would usually manage to con Hancock, 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, many viewers considered Hancock and James to be a double act. 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. Galton and Simpson continued to write for both men for a while, and the Sidney Balmoral James character resurfaced in the Citizen James (1960–62) series. Sid James was now consistently taking the lead role in his television work. Taxi! (1963–64) was his next series. James became a leading member of the Carry On films team, originally to replace Ted Ray who had appeared in Carry On Teacher (1959). It was intended that Ray would become a recurring presence in the Carry On series, but he had been dropped after just one film because of contractual problems.

James ultimately made 19 Carry On films, 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 bore the name Sid or Sidney, including Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond in Carry On... Up the Khyber (1968) and elsewhere in his credits. His trademark "dirty laugh" was often used and became, along with a world-weary "Cor, blimey!", his catchphrase. There were Carry On films in which James played characters who were not called Sid or Sidney, namely, Carry On Henry (1971, a parody of The Six Wives of Henry VIII TV series) and Carry On Dick, a parody of legendary highwayman Dick Turpin, in both of which he played the title roles, and Carry On Cleo, in which he played Mark Antony. In Carry On Cowboy, he even adopted an American accent for his part as "The Rumpo Kid".

In 1967, James was intending to play Sergeant Nocker in Follow That Camel, but was already committed to recording the TV series George and the Dragon (1966–68) for ATV, then one of the ITV contractors. James was replaced in Follow That Camel by the American comic actor Phil Silvers. On 13 May 1967, two weeks after the filming began of what eventually became an entry in the Carry On series, James suffered a severe heart attack. In the same year in Carry 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 with an occasional cigar; he lost weight, ate only one main meal a day, and limited himself to two or three alcoholic drinks per evening. Meanwhile his success in TV situation comedy continued with the series Two in Clover (1969–70), and Bless This House (1971-76) as Sid Abbott, a successful enough series in its day to spawn its own film version in 1972.

On 26 April 1976, while on a revival tour of The Mating Season, a 1969 farce by the Irish playwright Sam Cree, James suffered a heart attack on stage at the Sunderland Empire Theatre. Actress Olga Lowe thought that James was playing a practical joke at first when he failed to reply to her dialogue. The technical manager called for the curtain to close and requested a doctor, while the audience laughed, believing the events to be part of the show. He was taken to hospital by ambulance, but died about an hour later. James, aged 62, was cremated and his ashes were scattered at Golders Green Crematorium. Some, including Comedian Les Dawson claim to have seen the ghost of James at the theatre. Requested by UK Comedy Characters Sid James (Actor) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News Sid James Male Born May 8, 1913 Sid James was an English-based South African actor and comedian. He made his name as Tony Hancock's co-star in Hancock's Half Hour and also starred in the popular Carry On films. He was known for his trademark "dirty laugh" and lascivious persona.

Bruce Forsyth described him as "a natural at being natural."… Read More related links Ed2011 Comedy Review: Everything But An Astronaut (Carrot Napper Productions) Three Weeks News Google News - Aug 20, 2011 'It features dozens of toe-curling innuendos that would make <mark>Sid James</mark> and Kenneth Williams groan with embarrassment, lowest-common-denominator pop-culture references more tired than a marathon-running narcoleptic,and grossly offensive swearwords that' Carry On Up North! A Raucous Mix Of Social Realism And Slap And Tickle Sets ... Daily Mail Google News - Aug 19, 2011 'Even though Bianca has nothing racier than a fish pie to put before Dan, it&#39;s difficult to shift images of <mark>Sid James</mark> and Barbara Windsor from your head.

&#39;There are definitely some Carry On-style moments in Mount Pleasant â but a lot more besides,&#39; says' Cowboys And Their Bizarre Enemies Telegraph.Co.Uk Google News - Aug 18, 2011 'The extra-terrestrial enemies in Cowboys And Aliens are following in the path of western baddies Dracula and <mark>Sid James</mark>. A battle scene from Cowboys And Aliens Photo: AP A battle scene from Cowboys And Aliens Photo: AP Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde and' That's Very Nearly An Armful: Red House Museum Pays Tribute To Tony Hancock Culture24 Google News - Aug 17, 2011 '<mark>Sid James</mark>, Kenneth Williams, John LeMesurier, Hattie Jacques, Richard Wattis and Bill Kerr all appeared with him on radio and TV. It is this popular legacy that Red House Museum is celebrating with this pictorial exhibition that mixes film clips and' Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Sid James.

CHILDHOOD 1913 Birth James was born Solomon Joel Cohen, on 8 May 1913, to Jewish parents, in South Africa, later changing his name to Sidney Joel Cohen, and then Sidney James. … Read More His family lived on Hancock Street in Hillbrow, Johannesburg. Upon moving to Britain later in life, he claimed various previous occupations, including diamond cutter, dance tutor and boxer; in reality, he had trained and worked as a hairdresser. Read Less TWENTIES 1936 23 Years Old It was at a hairdressing salon in Kroonstad, 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. … Read More 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 the South African Broadcasting Corporation.<br /><br /> During the Second World War he served as a lieutenant in an entertainment unit of the South African Army, and subsequently took up acting as a career. He moved to Britain immediately after the war, financed by his service gratuity. According to rumour, Sid had an affair with the daughter of an important member of Johannesburg society; his decision to move away from South Africa was partly because he was "advised" to leave due to the possible controversy. Initially he worked in repertory before being spotted for the nascent British post-war film industry.<br /><br /> James made his first credited film appearances in Night Beat and Black Memory (1947), both crime dramas. He played the alcoholic hero's barman in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Small Back Room (1949). Read Less 1940 27 Years Old James married three times. He and his first wife divorced in 1940, mainly as a result of his many relationships with other women; it was a pattern which continued throughout his life.

THIRTIES 1943 30 Years Old In 1943, he married a dancer, Meg Sergei, nÃ©e Williams (born 1913). … Read More Five years later they had a daughter, Reina, before divorcing on 17 August 1952. Read Less 1952 39 Years Old On 21 August 1952, James married Valerie Elizabeth Patsy Assan (born 1928), an actress who used Ashton as her stage name. … Read More During the latter part of their marriage they lived in a house partly designed by James himself, called Delaford Park, situated in Iver, Buckinghamshire, a location close enough to Pinewood Studios to allow him to return home for lunch while filming. During his marriage to Valerie he had a well-publicised affair with Carry On co-star Barbara Windsor lasting more than 10 years. The affair was dramatised in the 1998 stage-play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick and Cor, Blimey!, its 2000 television adaptation.

James's obsession with Windsor was such that it was said that her then husband Ronnie Knight had all of James's furniture rearranged at home as a subtle threat and, on another occasion, that he had put an axe in James's floor. Close friends of the time, including Vince Powell and William G. Stewart, have dismissed the suggestions. Read Less FORTIES 1953 40 Years Old … His first major comedy role was in The Lavender Hill Mob (1951): with Alfie Bass he made up the bullion robbery gang headed by Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway. In the same year he also appeared in Lady Godiva Rides Again and The Galloping Major. Read Less In 1953 he appeared as Harry Hawkins in The Titfield Thunderbolt. … Read More In 1956 he appeared in Trapeze (1956), a circus film which was one of the most successful films of its year, and played Master Henry in "Outlaw Money" an episode of The Adventures of Robin Hood.

He also had a supporting part as a TV advertisement producer in Charlie Chaplin's A King in New York, a non-comic supporting role as a journalist in the science-fiction film Quatermass 2 and performed in Hell Drivers (all 1957), a film with Stanley Baker. The next year, James starred with Miriam Karlin in East End, West End by Wolf Mankowitz, a half-hour comedy series for the ITV company Associated 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 moment 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. Read Less BBC - Comedy - People A-Z - Sid James Sid James Sid James Born Joel Solomon Cohen on 8 May 1913 in Johannesburg, South Africa, former hairdresser Sid James became a lieutenant in the South African Army's entertainment unit during World War Two. It was here he caught the acting bug. He moved to Britain in 1946, where he won numerous dramatic film roles.

In 1951, The Lavender Hill Mob turned his career around, exhibiting James' talent for comedy. Three years later he was working with Tony Hancock in Hancock's Half Hour. An even more important development occurred in 1960, with James cast in Carry On Constable. It was to be the first of his 19 appearances in the Carry On franchise, which resulted in the popular perception of the actor as a womanising rogue with a dirty laugh. More sitcom success followed in the 1970s with Bless This House, which ran right up until his death in April 1976. Appearances by Sid James Sid James, the crimper who became Carry On’s king | UK | News | Daily Express UK Sid James, the crimper who became Carry On’s king HIS was the most distinctive laugh in the history of British comedy. That unforgettable gravelly cackle embodied all the warmth, lechery and cheekiness which made Sid James so cherished by the British public. No one ever captured the spirit of the classic bawdy seaside postcard better than him.

00:49, Sat, May 4, 2013 Sid James became one of Britain’s best loved comedy actors For three decades in postwar Britain, his lascivious antics and dodgy wheezes brought smiles to the faces of millions, making him one of the country's best-loved, most prolific comic actors. From the phenomenally successful radio show Hancock's Half Hour to the long-running Seventies TV sitcom Bless This House, Sid James was a permanent fixture in British entertainment. His popularity was further enhanced by the Carry On film series, which was the ideal vehicle for his lewd, wise-cracking persona. Though some performers such as Kenneth Williams and Joan Sims appeared in more Carry On films than he did Sid James was the biggest star of the series, his very name synonymous with its ribald humour. This coming week sees the centenary of the birth of Sid James and so it is appropriate to recognise the rare talent that made him into a legend. He was never a comedian in the sense that he could do stand-up routines. Gerald Thomas, the director of the Carry On films, once said: "Sid was hopeless without a script.

Ask him to ad-lib and he would be lost." But James was undoubtedly a unique comic actor with an innate gift for timing, a charismatic screen presence and an ability to inhabit a character. "A magic had been born among the team," recalled his fellow actor Leslie Phillips on James's first Carry On appearance. In fact, the morose alcoholic Tony Hancock forced Sid James out of his own show in 1959 because he feared that the brilliance of James was stealing his limelight. A key ingredient of James's appeal was his apparent authenticity. He was all too believable because he usually seemed to be playing himself. It is telling that, in recognition of this trait, so many of his comic roles were named Sid - like the imperial governor Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond in Carry On Up The Khyber. Certainly there were large elements of his personality that he transposed to the screen, including the rampant libido, the easy charm and the financial unreliability. But in real life Sid James was a much darker, more complex figure than the skirt-chasing rascals and scheming dodgers that he portrayed in films or on television. Deeply insecure, driven by obsessive passions, he was a man who went to self-destructive extremes.

As an actor he was a workaholic perfectionist, demanding complete professionalism in rehearsals and rarely turning down any job, even at the height of his fame. "I don't refuse any part, providing I can do something with it and the lolly's good," he told the Daily Express in 1960. The stress of his workload was one of the reasons he suffered from heart trouble before his premature death, aged 62, in 1976. James had to keep going because he had a chronic gambling habit which gnawed away at his earnings. Throughout his career he wasted a fortune at the bookies, so much so that his third and final wife Valerie had to take charge of his finances and give him an allowance. "Gambling was like breathing to Sid," she once said. His endless troubles with cash fed his epic meanness, an unattractive characteristic that stood in graphic contrast to his jovial image. "He made Scrooge look like a public benefactor," said one of his agents. Even more extreme was his fixation with sex. Having lost his virginity at the age of 17, James revelled in spectacular promiscuity.

Despite his craggy face, which the effete Kenneth Williams said was "terribly battered and very unattractive", he possessed an almost animal sexual magnetism which he exploited to the full, unrestrained by any moral boundaries in his own marriages or those of his targets. Even his own agent's wife was not free from his advances. At one point the Carry On actress Hattie Jacques was so appalled by his behaviour that she gave him a stern lecture, only to be met with the response from James: "God, you're sexy when you're angry." Though at times his seduction technique was based on old-fashioned chivalry there were less edifying aspects to his conduct. Fertile as well as profligate, he fathered several children outside his three marriages but took no responsibility for them. In fact when one of his mistresses told him she was pregnant he "struck her quite brutally", according to James's excellent biographer Cliff Goodwin, who recorded that James also hit his first wife, known as "Toots" after she became pregnant. Sid James with Barbara Windsor When he lost Babs he lost the will to live Sid James's agent Two of his numerous affairs had an even more macabre side.

One, with Eileen Gibson, occurred during his second marriage. When James tried to finish it he found himself subjected to the kind of enraged, possessive jealousy that he occasionally inflicted on others. He was free from her threatening attentions only when in October 1947 she suddenly died aboard a cruise liner while in the throes of passion with the ship's deck steward, who was eventually imprisoned for her murder. During the investigation James was questioned by the police over his relationship with her. "She was a nymphomaniac who refused to let go," he told them. Fortunately his name never came up during the subsequent trial. The other affair, in the Seventies with the Carry On actress Barbara Windsor, was even more damaging. Not only was there some danger in this liaison, since her husband at the time was the notorious criminal Ronnie Knight who allegedly embedded an axe in the floor of James's Buckinghamshire home as a warning against the continuance of the fling, but also James - his health already vulnerable - was left exhausted by the tempest of his all-consuming, paranoid devotion to Barbara. "I'm the eternal dirty old man," James once frankly admitted.

His epic womanising, just like his catchphrase "Cor blimey", was an integral part of his image as a cockney rebel. Yet the supreme irony of Sid James's career was that he was not an Englishman at all, never mind a Londoner. He was actually born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on May 8, 1913. By a coincidental quirk, the birthplace was in a relative's house on Hancock Street. Showbusiness was in his blood. Both his parents were vaudeville comedians, and as an infant Sid occasionally appeared on stage as part of their act. But they also travelled overseas extensively, which meant that young Sid was sively, which meant that young Sid was often left in the care of relatives, something that fed his insecurity and wilfulness as a child. Showing no interest in academic study, he left school at the first opportunity and took on various menial jobs including spells as a docker and a diamond sorter. But then he found a profession that gave him far more satisfaction: as a hairdresser. It might seem bizarre that Sid James, such an archetypal masculine figure, should have enjoyed his first professional success with the curling tongs.

But he had a natural skill for hair styling and was in high demand by the women of Johannesburg. At one stage he had his own salon employing a staff of 30. More importantly, the trade provided him with a rich source of attractive female company, of which he did not hesitate to take full advantage. Despite his tonsorial and erotic success, Sid James was gripped in the late Thirties by profound frustration which led to heavy drinking and bar-room brawling. Indeed, his battered appearance was the result, not of time in the professional boxing ring as he later claimed, but of regular drunken fights. This frustration largely stemmed from his desire to be an actor rather than a hairdresser. But it was the outbreak of war that really gave him the chance to fulfil his ambition, as he became a popular entertainer for the troops in the South African army. Inspired by this experience, he emigrated in 1946 to England where he quickly won recognition for his talent. Within a year of his arrival he appeared in five films, and the offers of work never ceased after that. But his punishing schedule combined with his turbulent private life exacted a heavy toll.

For much of his later career he was in severe back pain after a piece of scenery fell on him, while he was emotionally shattered by the decision of Barbara Windsor to end their affair. "When he lost Babs he lost the will to live," said his agent. It is no exaggeration to say that Sid James died of a broken heart, collapsing on stage during an appearance in a typically risque farce entitled The Mating Game at the Sunderland Empire in 1976. In a reflection of his comedic stature, the audience at first roared with laughter when he fell, thinking this was part of his act. The mood changed only when the theatre manager came out to the front to explain that the problem was serious. There are claims that, ever since then, the ghost of Sid James has haunted the Sunderland Empire. That other comic genius Les Dawson was said to be so shaken by an encounter with Sid's spirit in 1989 that he refused to return to the venue. Whatever the truth about the ghost, Sid James's cheeky laugh will always be with us.

Related articles Sid James Sid James Birth Name: Sidney Joel Cohen Born: 8 May 1913 Died: 26 April 1976 Country of origin: View all Sid James pictures Description: Sid James (May 8, 1913 - June 26, 1976) was a film and television actor. Sid James (Sidney Joel Cohen) was born in Natal in South Africa. During World War II, he was enlisted in an entertainment unit, and subsequently took up acting as a career. He came to Britain in 1946 on the back of his service gratuity. Initially he worked in repertory work before being spotted by the nascent British post-war film industry. His first major comedy was The Lavender Hill Mob: with Alfie Bass he made up the bullion robbery gang headed by Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway. In the same year he also appeared in Lady Godiva Rides Again an Sid James (May 8, 1913 - June 26, 1976) was a film and television actor. Sid James (Sidney Joel Cohen) was born in Natal in South Africa.

During World War II, he was enlisted in an entertainment unit, and subsequently took up acting as a career. He came to Britain in 1946 on the back of his service gratuity. Initially he worked in repertory work before being spotted by the nascent British post-war film industry. His first major comedy was The Lavender Hill Mob: with Alfie Bass he made up the bullion robbery gang headed by Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway. In the same year he also appeared in Lady Godiva Rides Again and The Galloping Major. In 1954 he began working with Tony Hancock in Hancock's Half Hour. This became the most popular TV comedy series in Britain. James was soon getting as many laughs as his partner, who had Sid dropped from the show. Sid returned to films to become a leading member of the 'Carry On' team. He made 19 films with them all together. He later enjoyed success at the head of casts of TV situation comedies, notably George and the Dragon, Taxi and Bless This House. He died of a heart attack at the age of 62. ...

( more ) ( less ) Sid James - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia I am a simple man trying to live a simple life !!!!!! Sid James Birth name Solomon Joel Cohen Name Sid James Born 8 May 1913 Hillbrow, Johannesburg, South Africa (1913-05-08) Died April 26, 1976, Sunderland, United Kingdom Children Reina James, Sue James, Steve James Spouse Valerie James (m. 1952–1976), Meg Williams (m. 1943–1952), Sadie Delmont (m.

1936–1940) TV shows Hancock's Half Hour, Bless This House, George and the Dragon, Carry On Laughing, Citizen James, Two in Clover Movies Carry On, Carry On Up the Khyber, Carry On Camping, Carry On Cleo, Carry On Doctor Similar People Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor Sid james 1913 1976 Sponsored Links Sid James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a South African-born British actor and comedian. Appearing in British films from 1947, he was cast in numerous small and supporting roles into the 1960s. His profile was raised as Tony Hancock's co-star in Hancock's Half Hour, which ran on television from 1956 until 1960, and then he became known as a regular performer in the Carry On films, appearing in 19 films of the series with the top billing role in 17 (in the other two he was cast below Frankie Howerd).

Meanwhile, his starring roles in television sitcoms continued for the rest of his life. He starred alongside Diana Coupland in the 1970s sitcom Bless This House which aired from 1971 until James died in 1976. Remembered for a lascivious personality, the Snopes website describing him as "the grand old man of dirty laughter", he became known for his amiability in his later television work. Bruce Forsyth described him as "a natural at being natural." On 26 April 1976, James was touring in The Mating Season, appearing at the Sunderland Empire Theatre when he died from a heart attack. Some, including comedian Les Dawson, claim to have seen the ghost of James at the theatre. Sid james long lost interview 1972 Early life James was born Solomon Joel Cohen, on 8 May 1913, to Jewish parents, in South Africa, later changing his name to Sidney Joel Cohen, and then Sidney James. His family lived on Hancock Street in Hillbrow, Johannesburg.

Upon moving to Britain later in life, he claimed various previous occupations, including diamond cutter, dance tutor and boxer; in reality, he had trained and worked as a hairdresser. Sponsored Links It was at a hairdressing salon in Kroonstad, 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 the South African Broadcasting Corporation. During the Second World War he served as a lieutenant in an entertainment unit of the South African Army, and subsequently took up acting as a career. He moved to Britain immediately after the war, financed by his service gratuity. According to rumour, Sid had an affair with the daughter of an important member of Johannesburg society; his decision to move away from South Africa was partly because he was "advised" to leave due to the possible controversy.

Initially he worked in repertory before being spotted for the nascent British post-war film industry. From 1947 to 1964 James made his first credited film appearances in Night Beat and Black Memory (1947), both crime dramas. He played the alcoholic hero's barman in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Small Back Room (1949). His first major comedy role was in The Lavender Hill Mob (1951): with Alfie Bass he made up the bullion robbery gang headed by Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway. In the same year he also appeared in Lady Godiva Rides Again and The Galloping Major. In 1953 he appeared as Harry Hawkins in The Titfield Thunderbolt. In 1956 he appeared in Trapeze (1956), a circus film which was one of the most successful films of its year, and played Master Henry in "Outlaw Money" an episode of The Adventures of Robin Hood.

He also had a supporting part as a TV advertisement producer in Charlie Chaplin's A King in New York, a non-comic supporting role as a journalist in the science-fiction film Quatermass 2 and performed in Hell Drivers (all 1957), a film with Stanley Baker. The next year, James starred with Miriam Karlin in East End, West End by Wolf Mankowitz, a half-hour comedy series for the ITV company Associated 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 moment 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. In 1954, he had begun working with Tony Hancock in his BBC Radio series Hancock's Half Hour. Having seen him in The Lavender Hill Mob, it was the idea of Hancock's writers, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, to cast James.

He played a character with his own name (but having the invented middle name Balmoral), who was a petty criminal who would usually manage to con Hancock, 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, many viewers considered Hancock and James to be a double act. 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. Galton and Simpson continued to write for both men for a while, and the Sidney Balmoral James character resurfaced in the Citizen James (1960–62) 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 by Ted Willis, but although running to two series, the programme was not particularly successful.

Carry On films James became a leading member of the Carry On films team, originally to replace Ted Ray, who had appeared in Carry On Teacher (1959). It was intended that Ray would become a recurring presence in the Carry On series, but he had been dropped after just one film because of contractual problems. James ultimately made 19 Carry On films, 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 bore the name Sid or Sidney, including for example Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond in Carry On... Up the Khyber (1968). 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].

(Similarly, other regular members of the Carry On cast abbreviated their real first names in the films: Bernard Bresslaw was Bernie and Barbara Windsor Babs.) There were Carry On films in which James played characters who were not called Sid or Sidney, namely, Carry On Henry (1971, a parody of the TV series The Six Wives of Henry VIII); Carry On Abroad (1972), in which James's character was named Vic Flange; and Carry On Dick (1974), a parody version of the legend of the highwayman Dick Turpin. In Henry and Dick James played the title roles, while in Carry On Cleo he played Mark Antony. In Carry On Cowboy he adopted an American accent for his part as "The Rumpo Kid". According to Adrian Rigelsford: The cast make valiant attempts to maintain American accents, with the most convincing belonging to—surprisingly—Sid James, who made no attempt to disguise his accent in any other film, either before or after this one.

Rigelsford was mistaken, as James had previously played an American (with an American accent) in the 1954 film Orders Are Orders and Chaplin's "A King in New York (1958). Later career In 1967, James was intending to play Sergeant Nocker in Follow That Camel, but was already committed to recording the TV series George and the Dragon (1966–68) for ATV, then one of the ITV contractors. James was replaced in Follow That Camel by the American comic actor Phil Silvers. On 13 May 1967, two weeks after the filming began of what eventually became an entry in the Carry On series, James suffered a severe heart attack. In the same year in Carry 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 with an occasional cigar; he lost weight, ate only one main meal a day, and limited himself to two or three alcoholic drinks per evening.

Meanwhile his success in TV situation comedy continued with the series Two in Clover (1969–70), and Bless This House (1971-76) as Sid Abbott, a successful enough series in its day to spawn its own film version in 1972. On 26 April 1976, while on a revival tour of The Mating Season, a 1969 farce by the Irish playwright Sam Cree, James suffered a heart attack on stage at the Sunderland Empire Theatre. Actress Olga Lowe thought that James was playing a practical joke at first when he failed to reply to her dialogue. When he failed to reply to her ad libs she moved towards the wings to seek help. The technical manager (Melvyn James) called for the curtain to close and requested a doctor, while the audience (unaware of what was happening) laughed, believing the events to be part of the show. He was taken to hospital by ambulance, but died about an hour later; he was 62. His body was cremated and his ashes were scattered at Golders Green Crematorium.

Tributes 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 series The Unforgettable; a 2002 episode of Heroes of Comedy; Channel Four's With Out Walls, Seriously Seeking Sid in the late 1980s; and in 2013, the BBC's The Many Faces Of Sid James. Personal life James married three times. He and his first wife divorced in 1940, mainly as a result of James's many relationships with other women; it was a pattern which continued throughout his life. In 1943, he married a dancer, Meg Sergei, nee Williams (born 1913). Five years later they had a daughter, Reina, before divorcing on 17 August 1952. On 21 August 1952, James married Valerie Elizabeth Patsy Assan (born 1928), an actress who used Ashton as her stage name.

During the latter part of their marriage they lived in a house partly designed by James himself, called Delaford Park, situated in Iver, Buckinghamshire, a location close enough to Pinewood Studios to allow him to return home for lunch while filming. During his marriage to Valerie he had a well-publicised affair with Carry On co-star Barbara Windsor lasting more than 10 years. The affair was dramatised in the 1998 stage-play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick and Cor, Blimey!, its 2000 television adaptation. James's obsession with Windsor was such that it was said that her then husband Ronnie Knight had all of James's furniture rearranged at home as a subtle threat and, on another occasion, that he had put an axe in James's floor. Close friends of the time, including Vince Powell and William G. Stewart, have dismissed the suggestions. James was an inveterate and largely unsuccessful gambler, losing tens of thousands of pounds over his lifetime. His gambling addiction was 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.

Sid James Long Lost Interview (1972) - YouTube Sid James Long Lost Interview (1972) Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Aug 22, 2014 This is an interview with the South African-born British actor Sid James that took place in 1972 for She Magazine. The recording has never been heard by or shared with the public before and has remained private for 42 years. The interviewer is Keith Howes and he met Sid on the set of the film version of the TV series Bless This House at Pinewood Studios near London. Sid begins the interview by discussing Tony Hancock and then he goes on to talk candidly about his own career, films life co-stars and family. The interview is both relaxed and funny. At the end of the interview I have included bonus audio of Keith discussing the Carry On films and actors with press agent and publicist Tony Wells.

All photographs are either in the public domain or are used under the rules of fair dealing and fair use for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended. The audio belongs to Keith Howes and all other material belongs to me. For enquiries please email me launceston79@hotmail.com Category

Question: In which country was the late actor Sid James born?
Answer: South Africa