Sid James

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Birth name Solomon Joel Cohen
Nationality United-kingdom
Birth 8 may 1913 at Johannesburg (South africa)
Death 26 april 1976 (at 62 years)

Sid James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a South African 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 persona, 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.

Biography

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, née 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.