Sid James

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Sidney "Sid" James, born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976), was a British character and comedian born in South Africa's middle-class Jewish family. He appeared in numerous small and supporting roles throughout the 1950s.

His profile was raised as Tony Hancock's co-star in Hancock's Half Hour, first on the radio show and then on television, where it was later expanded for television and ran from 1954 to 1961.

He became known as a regular performer in Carry On films, appearing in nineteen films of the series, with the top billing role in 17 (in the other two he was cast below Frankie Howerd).

During the same time, his starring roles in television sitcoms lasted for the remainder of his life.

He appeared in the 1970s sitcom Bless This House until his death in 1976. He was remembered as a lascivious character in the Carry On films, with Snopes' description of him as "the grand old man of dirty laughter" in his later television appearances.

When touring in The Mating Season on April 26, 1976, Bruce Forsyth described him as "a natural at being natural"; he died in hospital the following day.

Some, including comedian Les Dawson, claim to have seen James' ghost at the theatre and have since refused to attend the performance again.

Early life

Solomon Joel Cohen was born in South Africa on May 8, 1913, to Jewish parents, then a British dominion, later changing his name to Sidney Joel Cohen and then Sidney James. His family lived on Hancock Street in Hillbrow, Johannesburg. He claimed several previous careers, including diamond cutter, dance coach, and boxer, but in reality, he trained and worked as a hairdresser.

He first met his first wife at a hairdressing salon in Kroonstad, Orange Free State. Berthe Sadie Delmont, also known as Toots, was born on August 12, 1936, and the couple had a daughter, Elizabeth, who was born in 1937. Joseph Delmont, a Johannesburg businessman, owned a hairdressing salon for James, but within a year, he decided to become an actor and joined the Johannesburg Repertory Players. He began working with the South African Broadcasting Corporation as a result of this group. In 1940, Toots divorced him.

He served as a lieutenant in an entertainment unit of the South African Army during the Second World War and later started acting as a professional. In December 1946, he came to the United Kingdom, partly funded by his service gratuity. He began working in repertory before being spotted for the burgeoning British postwar film industry.

Personal life

James has married three times. Berthe Sadie Delmont, his first wife, and his daughter Elizabeth were married in 1937; the two children were divorced in 1940, mainly because of his many encounters with other women.

In 1943, he married Meg Sergei, née Williams (1913-1977); in 1947, they had a daughter Reina; they were divorced on 17 August 1952.

Valerie Elizabeth Patsy Assan (1928-2022), an actress who used Ashton as her stage name, married James on August 21, 1952. Steve James, a singer who later became a music producer, and Sue, a daughter who became a television presenter, were among their children. They lived in Delaford Park, which is close enough to Pinewood Studios for filming to allow them to return home for lunch while filming. He had a well-publicized affair with Carry On co-star Barbara Windsor that lasted three years during his marriage to Valerie. In the 1998 stage-play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle, Dick, and Dick's 2000 television adaptation Cor, Blimey! But close friends of James' time, including Vince Powell and William G. Stewart, denied the allegations because it was rumored that her late husband Ronnie Knight had all of James' furniture rearranged at home as a subtle threat and, on another occasion, he had set an axe in James' floor.

James was a nefarious gambler who lost tens of thousands of pounds over his lifetime. His gambling addiction was so bad that he had an arrangement with his handler, Michael Sullivan, that his wife was not aware of how much money he was earning so a portion of it could be set aside for gaming. When she was pregnant, James assaulted his pregnant mother and hit his first wife.

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Career

In 1947, James made his first credited film appearances in Night Beat and Black Memory, both crime dramas. In Powell and Pressburger's The Small Back Room in 1949, he played the alcoholic hero's barman.

With Alfie Bass, he made up the bullion robbery crew led by Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway, he made up the Lavender Hill Mob, 1951, his first comedy film, ranked 17th out of the 100 best British films by the British Film Institute.

He appeared in Lady Godiva Rides Again and The Galloping Major (1951), as Harry Hawkins in The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953), and also played lead in Lilli Marlene in The Wedding of Lilli Marlene. He appeared in another Alec Guinness film, Father Brown (1954), and Trapeze (1956) as Harry the snake charmer, one of the year's most popular films, and he appeared in "Outlaw Money" (also 1956), an episode of Robin Hood's Adventures.

In Charlie Chaplin's A King in New York, a non-comic supporting role as a journalist, and James appeared in Hell Drivers (all 1957), a Stanley Baker film. James appeared in East End, West End, by Wolf Mankowitz, a half-hour comedy film for the ITV company Associated Rediffusion, for the next year. In February and March 1958, the series of six episodes was produced in the Jewish community of London's East End, but plans for further episodes were scrapped due to a disappointing response. For a while, it seemed that his work with Tony Hancock, one of the most popular television comedians of the time, would come to an end.

In 1954, he started working with Tony Hancock in his BBC Radio program Hancock's Half Hour. It was the intention of Hancock's writers, Galton and Simpson, to play James after seeing him in The Lavender Hill Mob. He created a character with his own name (but with the invention of middle name Balmoral) who was a petty criminal and would normally be able to trick Hancock in some manner, but Hancock's adversary has since been removed. The other regular cast members of the radio series were dropped with the exception of James when the series was transferred to television. Hancock and James as a double act has greatly increased his role on the program, and many viewers began to think of them as a double act.

Hancock, who felt the style had suffered, decided to end his career with James at the end of the sixth television series in 1960. Despite the fact that the two men remained friends, James was furious over his colleague's decision. The experience lead to a departure from the kinds of positions for which he had been most well-known. He remained a lovable rogue but wanted to stay away from criminal characters - in 1960, he turned down the part of Fagin in Oliver's first West End production. For the same reason. Galton and Simpson continued to write for both James and Hancock for a while, but the Sidney Balmoral James character appeared in the Citizen James (1960–1962) series. Sid James was now primarily in charge of his television appearances.

Taxi!

His next film (1963–64) was his next film. Ted Willis' creation of a comedy-drama rather than a sitcom, but despite the fact that the series ran to two series, it was not particularly popular.

He made his first appearance on The Eamonn Andrews Exhibition in 1964. The first few scenes of one of them's opening credits can be seen and watched on the television show Undermind, Episode 6, "Intent to Destroy," which premiered on June 12, 1965. His name has been revealed, and the performance is shown on a television camera seconds later.

In 1968, James, Val Doonican, and Arthur Askey were filming golf in Cockington (British Pathé archives, film reference 457.1). Viva Torbay is a British Seaside production that took place in the United Kingdom.

James was a key member of Carry On Films, first to replace Ted Ray, who had appeared in Carry On Teacher (1959). Ray had hoped that he would be a regular fixture in the Carry On film but he was forced to cancel after only one film due to contractual difficulties. James appeared in 19 Carry On films, receiving top billing in 17, making him one of the most prominent performers of the regular cast.

In most cases, the characters portrayed in the films were remarkably similar to the wise-cracking, sly, lecherous Cockney he was famous for playing on television, and in many cases, Sidney Ruff-Diamond in Carry On Up the Khyber and Sid Boggle in Carry On Camping. His trademark "dirty laugh" was often used, and along with a world-weary "Cor" blimey, blimey has also been popular. "He's been catching him." His laughter can be heard here [1].

In which James played Carry On Constable (1960), a parody of Henry VIII's television film Carry On Constable (1960), a parody of the highwayman Dick Turpin legend, Carry On Constable (1972), a parody of the famed actor Sidney; Carry On Abroad (1972), a parody of the roadman Dick Turpin (1996). James appeared in Henry and Dick, as well as in Carry On Cleo, where he appeared as Mark Antony. In Carry On Cowboy (1965), he used an American accent for his part as "The Rumpo Kid." (James had appeared in the films Give Us This Day (1949), Orders Are Orders (1954), A Yank in Ermine (1956), A King in Ashes (1956), Another Time, Another Place (1958).

James had intended to appear Sergeant Nocker in Follow That Camel, but he was already committed to filming George and the Dragon (1966–1968) for ATV, then one of the ITV employees. In Follow That Camel by American comedian Phil Silvers, James was replaced by him. James suffered a serious heart attack on May 13, 1967, just two weeks after the filming of what would later become an entry in the Carry On series came to an end. James was mostly lying in a hospital bed the year before, owing to his real-life health issues. After his heart attack, James gave up his heavy cigarette smoking habit and instead smoked a pipe or occasional cigar; he lost weight, ate just one main meal a day, and restricted himself to two or three alcoholic beverages per evening.

His success in television situation comedy continued with the series Two in Clover (1969-70) and Bless This House (1971–1976); the former led to a film version in 1972.

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