Joan Sims
Joan Sims | |
---|---|
Born | Irene Joan Marion Sims 9 May 1930 |
Died | 27 June 2001 Chelsea, London, England | (aged 71)
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1950–2000 |
Known for | Carry On Till Death Us Do Part Sykes As Time Goes By On the Up |
Irene Joan Marion Sims (9 May 1930 – 27 June 2001) was an English actress, best remembered for her roles in the Carry On franchise, appearing in 24 of the films (the most for any actress).
On television, she is known for playing Gran in Till Death Us Do Part (1967–1975), Madge Kettlewell in Sykes (1972–1978), Mrs Bloomsbury-Barton in Worzel Gummidge (1979-1981), an eccentric youth hostel owner in Victoria Wood (1990), Mrs Wembley, the cook with a liking for sherry, in On the Up (1990–1992), and Madge Hardcastle in As Time Goes By (1994–1998).
Early life and education
Sims was born on 9 May 1930, the only child of John Henry Sims (1888-1964), Station Master of
In 1946, Sims first applied to
Career
Early work
Sims made her first film appearance in
She had a small part in the 1957 film Carry On Admiral, unrelated to the later Carry On series and with no other cast members in common with the series.
Carry On films
In 1958, Sims received a script from Peter Rogers; it was for Carry On Nurse. The film Carry On Sergeant had been a huge success at the box office and in the autumn of that year, Rogers and director Gerald Thomas began planning a follow-up.[7]
She first starred in Carry On Nurse, then Carry On Teacher,[8] followed by Carry On Constable and Carry On Regardless, and this sealed her future as a regular Carry On performer. Following a bout of ill health, Dilys Laye had to be brought in to take her place in Carry On Cruising at very short notice; however, Sims rejoined the team with Carry On Cleo.[9]
Later work
After the Carry On series ended in 1978, Sims continued to work on television. She appeared opposite Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier in the award-winning 1975 television film Love Among the Ruins and had a recurring role as Gran in the BBC comedy series Till Death Us Do Part (though she was only in her late thirties when she assumed the role).
From 1979 to 1980, she played the recurring character Mrs Bloomsbury-Barton in
In 1989, she appeared as a
She played Mrs Wembley in the BBC comedy series On the Up, which starred Dennis Waterman and ran from 1990 to 1992. From 1994, she played Madge Hardcastle, drum-playing wife to Rocky Hardcastle played by Frank Middlemass, and stepmother of Geoffrey Palmer's character Lionel in As Time Goes By. She also played Betsey Prig in a star-studded adaptation of Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit (1994) and Lady Fox-Custard in Simon and the Witch.
Music career
During 1963, Sims made several recordings. "Hurry Up Gran" / "Oh Not Again Ken" was issued as a single, followed by "Spring Song" / "Men". Both were produced by
Personal life
Sims, like her fellow Carry On star Kenneth Williams, never married. Williams, who was homosexual, did, however, propose a marriage of convenience to her, which she promptly declined.[11] From 1958, she lived for three years with fellow actor Tony Baird but, every time her parents visited, she asked Baird to remove all of his belongings from their London flat.
After she told her mother on a visit that she was living with Baird, her father wrote her a stern letter, condemning the relationship. Sims replied, telling her parents that they had to come to terms with Tony being an extremely important part of her life. For the next six months she had no contact with her parents. Sims was a devoted daughter and found the separation from her parents difficult.
The relationship with Baird began to flounder, Sims said, due to her success and Tony Baird's failure as an actor. Sims writes
Had house husbands been in vogue in those days we'd have made an excellent couple, since Tony was not very successful as an actor and I soon became the main breadwinner. If we had been able to accept that I would go out and earn the money and he would concentrate on running the home, things might have turned out better... For three years I was besotted with this loveable reprobate, but then the icing on the cake began to chip off and the love started to wear thin. I was virtually keeping him and the friction of the situation was getting harder to bear.
Of the break-up, which was finally triggered by Sims returning from a tour to find Baird had not done any washing or housework, she wrote "I could tell that he was genuinely heartbroken, and so was I, but I had to do it for my own survival."[12]
Following this came a relationship with John Walters whom Sims had known for a long time. He had been assistant stage manager for the revue High Spirits, in which she appeared. They had had an 'innocent' romance at the time, but they embarked on a more serious relationship after Sims's break-up with Baird. However, Sims never felt it would be a long-term relationship: John was a much moodier character than Tony. During what she described as the 'one broody phase of my life', they discussed marriage and children, but it came to nothing and the relationship, the last serious one of Sims's life, ended after around two years of living together.
I never married because the right person never came along... I leave others to seek for darker explanations. For me it's extremely simple!
Health
Sims had
High Spirits
The tone of Sims's 2000 autobiography High Spirits is revealing (though not sensationalist), frank and sometimes mordant:
In Doctor at Sea I was cast again as the Plain Jane character ... my rival in love was played by ... Brigitte Bardot. Joan Sims versus Brigitte Bardot. I'll leave you to guess which of us got her man.
Then the effects of the tablets rapidly started wearing off – as is the way with
Benzedrine– and suddenly I was feeling worse than I had ever felt in my life.
I learned the hard way how deflating it can be to get too excited by a prospect before you know for sure that it will come off. The worst aspect of this fiasco was that I was now not only jobless but homeless.
I was always useless at flirting, and simply did not know what needed to be done in order to snare my target... I always ended up resorting to jokes, and most men don't like funny women. They like to do the jokes.
I've never been able to understand women who have this burning desire to have children. I've never had those feelings in any depth.
— Joan Sims, High Spirits
High Spirits concluded with Sims in reflective and rueful mood. Having been disappointed to miss out on the part in a BBC adaptation of
The last couple of years have seen more lows than highs .... my long-held view that whether you're up or you're down, there's only one way to react to whatever life throws at you. Carry on.
— Joan Sims, High Spirits
Death
Sims was admitted to hospital in November 2000, and complications of a routine operation caused her to slip into a coma. Her lifelong friend and stand-in, Norah Holland[14] spoke of the doctors' amazement at her strength and courage throughout her final illness.[15]
On 27 June 2001, ten minutes before she died, Holland spoke to her gently about
Her authorised biography, Too Happy A Face, by Andrew Ross, was published in 2014.
In popular culture
Sims was played by Chrissie Cotterill in the 2000 television film, Cor, Blimey!, an adaptation of Terry Johnson's play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick, and by Beatie Edney in the 2006 television film Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!
Selected filmography
- The Square Ring (1953)
- Will Any Gentleman...? (1953)
- Trouble in Store (1953)
- Meet Mr. Lucifer (1953)
- Doctor in the House (1954)
- What Every Woman Wants (1954)
- The Young Lovers (1954)
- The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954)
- To Dorothy a Son (1954)
- The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954)
- The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series) (1955) 1 episode 'The Sheriff's Boots
- As Long as They're Happy (1955)
- Colonel March Investigates (1955)
- Doctor at Sea (1955)
- The Buccaneers (TV series) (1956) 2 episodes 'Dan Tempest and The Amazons' and 'Cutlass Wedding'
- Stars in Your Eyes (1956)
- Lost (1956)
- The Silken Affair (1956)
- Keep It Clean (1956)
- Dry Rot (1956)
- Carry On Admiral (1957)
- Just My Luck (1957)
- The Naked Truth (1957)
- No Time for Tears (1957)
- Davy (1958)
- Passport to Shame (1958)
- Please Turn Over (1959)
- Carry On Nurse (1959)
- The Captain's Table (1959)
- Life in Emergency Ward 10 (1959)
- Upstairs and Downstairs (1959)
- Carry On Teacher (1959)
- Watch Your Stern (1960)
- Carry On Constable (1960)
- Doctor in Love (1960)
- His and Hers (1961)
- Carry On Regardless (1961)
- Mr. Topaze (1961)
- No My Darling Daughter (1961)
- The Iron Maiden (1962)
- A Pair of Briefs (1962)
- Twice Round the Daffodils (1962)
- Nurse on Wheels (1963)
- Strictly for the Birds (1963)
- Carry On Cleo (1964)
- San Ferry Ann (1965)
- The Big Job (1965)
- Carry On Cowboy (1965)
- Doctor in Clover (1966)
- Carry On Screaming! (1966)
- Don't Lose Your Head (1966)
- Follow That Camel (1967)
- Carry On Doctor (1967)
- Carry On Up the Khyber (1968)
- Carry On Camping (1969)
- Carry On Again Doctor (1969)
- Carry On Up the Jungle (1970)
- Doctor in Trouble (1970)
- Carry On Loving (1970)
- Carry On Henry (1971)
- The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins (1971)
- Carry On at Your Convenience (1971)
- Carry On Matron (1972)
- The Alf Garnett Saga (1972)
- Carry On Abroad (1972)
- Don't Just Lie There, Say Something! (1973)
- Carry On Girls (1973)
- Not Now, Darling (1974)
- Carry On Dick (1974)
- A Journey to London (1975, TV film)
- Love Among the Ruins (1975, TV film)
- One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975)
- Carry On Behind (1975)
- Carry On England (1976)
- Carry On Emmannuelle (1978)
- Hay Fever (1984, TV film)
- A Murder Is Announced(1985, TV film)
- The Trial of a Time Lord (Parts 1-4: The Mysterious Planet) (1986)
- Only Fools and Horses – The Frog's Legacy (Christmas Special) (1987)
- Victoria Wood - Episode 5 "Val de Ree (Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha)" (1989)
- The Fool (1990)
- On the Up (1990-1992)
- The Princess and the Cobbler(1993)
- One Foot in the Algarve (1993)
- As Time Goes By (1994-1998)
- The Canterville Ghost (1996, TV film)
- Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (1997)
- The Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2000, TV film)
Notes
- ^ a b c "Joan Sims obituary". BBC News. 28 June 2001. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ^ Butters, Wes. "Carry On Actors: Amazon.co.uk: Andrew Ross: Books". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ISBN 978-1781961216.
- ^ a b "Carry on actress Joan Sims dead". BBC News. 28 June 2001. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ISBN 978-1-84854-195-5.
- user-generated source]
- ISBN 978-1-84854-195-5.
- ISBN 978-1-84854-195-5.
- ISBN 978-1-84854-195-5.
- ^ "Comedy2". Peterice.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-84854-195-5.
- ^
Sims, Joan (2000). High Spirits. ISBN 1-85225-280-4.
- ^ "Joan Sims bio". Screenonline. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ^ "Tribute to a studio's dream". Bucks Free Press (29 January 2003). Retrieved 9 November 2014.
- ^ a b "Joan Sims - YouTube". YouTube. 17 May 2016. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ^ "Joan Sims - FilmNav". Filmnav.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
- ^ GRO Register of Deaths: 2002, Kensington and Chelsea - Irene Joan M. Sims.
- ISBN 9780759123793. Retrieved 20 August 2020 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 9781784422011. Retrieved 20 August 2020 – via Google Books.
Bibliography
- High Spirits by Joan Sims (ISBN 1-85225-280-4)
- Too Happy A Face – The Authorised Biography of Joan Sims by Andrew Ross (ISBN 1781961212, 978-1781961216)
External links
- Joan Sims at IMDb