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Sid James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a South African, British-based actor and comedian, who 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. James was born Solomon Joel Cohen, to Jewish parents, later changing his name to Sidney Joel Cohen, and then Sid James. His family lived on (the happily prophetic) Hancock Street in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, South Africa. He worked as a diamond cutter, hairdresser, dance tutor and reputedly a part-time boxer in fairgrounds, before becoming a professional actor. 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 her father Joseph Delmont, a wealthy Johannesburg businessman, bought a salon for James. Within a year, however, James announced that he wanted to become an actor and joined Johannesburg Repertory Players. Through this he got work with the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
He and Delmont divorced in 1940 mainly as a result of James` many relationships with other women; it was a pattern that 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 getting divorced on 17 August 1952. On 21 August 1952 he wed Valerie Elizabeth Patsy Assan (born 1928), an actress who used Ashton as her stage name. During the later 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 whilst filming. During his marriage to Valerie he had a well publicised affair with his Carry On co-star, Barbara Windsor. During the Second World War, he became a lieutenant in the South African Army 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 before being spotted by the nascent British post-war film industry.
He suffered a heart attack on 26 April 1976, during the opening night of The Mating Season at the Sunderland Empire Theatre. was cremated and his ashes scattered at Golders Green Crematorium.
Biography Credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_James
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