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Remarking on his mug he observed, “Mind you, I’ve had to work on it
a bit. Late nights, card games, plenty of gin, irregular eating hours
and worrying about the tax man. I guess you might call me a character
actor and it’s taken me a lot of hard work to get that character.”He’d
also likened his face to: “A bed that has been slept in with the sheets
left rumpled”, while others described it in many colourful ways – ‘an
army assault course’ and ‘an overworked punchbag.’ Sid was a much-loved
actor and is particularly remembered for his classic radio and TV shows
with Tony Hancock and the 19 ‘Carry On’ films he starred in.
Although his many film roles presented him as a Cockney character, he
was actually born in Johannesburg in 1913 into a show business family
and as a small boy toured with his parents in a music hall team. He
then took on a variety of jobs: hairdresser, stevedore, coal heaver,
diamond polisher, skating instructor and profession boxer. “I used to
fight as a middle-weight” he said, “but the biggest purse I got was
fifty bob and it was in that fight I had my nose busted. The Doc fixed
it up but it broke again. Then my ears were a bit puffy after another
fight and I cried finish. I’m not complaining though, it’s certainly
helped me over here.”
During the war he was a lieutenant in an anti-tank regiment in the Middle
East and he used his military gratuity to settle in Britain where he
made his film debut in 1947 as Eddie Clanton in ‘Black Memory’ and an
East End bandleader in ‘It Always Rains on Sunday.’ Films such as ‘The
Lavender Hill Mob’, ‘The Titfield Thunderbolt’, ‘Joe Macbeth’ ‘A Kid
For Two Farthings’, ‘Quatermas 11’ and ‘Trapeze’ followed and he also
appeared in stage musicals such as ‘Guys And Dolls’ and ‘Kiss Me Kate.’
Then he took the step leading to him becoming a household name – he
joined the ‘Hancock’s Half Hour’ team on radio in company with Kenneth
Williams, Hattie Jacques and Bill Kerr.
His down to earth personality and gravely voice endeared him to the
public during five years with Hancock on radio and three on television.
When Hancock split up the team, Sid was to comment, “I don’t think Tony
will be as funny without me. I know I won’t be as funny without him.”
But Sid did turn out to be a popular funny man in his own right, particularly
in the ‘Carry On’ series. He starred in his own comedy show ‘Westend,
Eastend’ and then in ‘Double Bunk’ with Ian Carmichael, followed by
a stint as Archie Andrews’ tutor in the radio show ‘Educating Archie’
when he was offered the lead in the fourth ‘Carry On’ film, ‘Carry On
Constable’ – and appeared in a total of 19 movies in the series during
the next 14 years.
He loved appearing in the ‘Carry On’s’ and said, “The two best things
that happened to me in my working life were Tony Hancock and the ‘Carry
On’s.” Sid had a massive heart attack in the mid-1960s and was in such
poor health during ‘Carry On Doctor’ that he had to play all his scenes
in bed. His complete ‘Carry On’ filmography is: ‘Carry On Constable’,
‘Carry On Regardless’, ‘Carry On Cruising’, ‘Carry On Cabby’, ‘Carry
On Cleo’, ‘Carry On Cowboy’, ‘Carry On – Don’t Lose Your Head’, ‘Carry
On Doctor’, ‘Carry On Up The Khyber’, ‘Carry On Again Doctor’, ‘Carry
On Camping’, ‘Carry On Up The Jungle’, ‘Carry On Loving’, ‘Carry On
Henry’, ‘Carry On At Your Convenience’, ‘Carry On Matron’’ ‘Carry On
Abroad’, ‘Carry On Girls’ and ‘Carry On Dick.’
He also appeared in a number of ‘Carry On’ television productions, including
‘Carry On Christmas’ (two specials) and the series ‘Carry On Laughing’
(in the episodes ‘Orgy And Bess’, ‘The Sobbing Cavalier’, ‘The Baron
Outlook’ and ‘The Prisoner of Spender.’ After ‘Carry On Dick’ in 1974,
Sid thought he was getting too old for the part of the leering womaniser
lusting after young girls he’d played so often in the films. By that
time he’d established himself on television, initially in the series
‘Citizen James’ and ‘Taxi’ but mainly in ‘Bless This House’ in which
he starred for seven years with Diana Coupland.
He was negotiating a new series when he died. Sid had been appearing
in the stage play ‘The Mating Season’ which had broken box-office records
in Australia and brought him a Best Actor award. In 1976, in the British
production at the Sunderland Empire, he collapsed on stage in front
of the first night audience and died on the way to hospital.
The cheeky chortle would be heard no more . . .
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