Irene Joan Marion Sims (9 May 1930 – 27 June 2001) was an English actress, best remembered for her roles in the Carry On films, and latterly for playing Madge Hardcastle in As Time Goes By.
Sims was born in 1930, the daughter of the station master of Laindon railway station in Laindon, Essex. Sims' early interest in being an actress came from living at the railway station. She would often put on performances for waiting passengers. She decided that she was certainly interested in pursuing show business, and soon became a familiar face in a growing number of amateur productions locally, during her teens.
In 1946, Sims first applied to RADA, but her audition was unsuccessful. Her first audition included a rendition of Winnie the Pooh. She did succeed in being admitted to PARADA, the academy's preparatory school, and finally, on her fourth attempt, she graduated and was trained at RADA. She graduated from RADA in 1950 at the age of 19.
Sims appeared in a number of Brian Rix's Aldwych Theatre farces, but revue was Sims' greatest medium, especially in the works of Peter Myers. In 1958 she got a part in Peter Coke's play Breath of Spring, which opened at the Cambridge Theatre in March, transferring to the Duke of York's Theatre in August 1958, and running until April 1959. Sims preferred film to stage work. "It was, of course, lovely to be in a successful play, to have the excitement of performing a hit to packed houses (and, not least, the assurance of a regular income for the foreseeable future). But, on the other hand, I found it extremely difficult to keep a performance fresh, and I'd soon get bored."
Francis Alick "Frankie" Howerd OBE (6 March 1917, York – 19 April 1992) was an English comedian and comic actor whose career, described by fellow comedian Barry Cryer as "a series of comebacks", spanned six decades.
Howerd was born the son of a soldier, Francis Alfred William (1887–1935) and Edith Florence Howard (née Morrison, 1888–1962) at the City Hospital in York, England, in 1917 (not 1922 as he later claimed). He was educated at Shooters Hill Grammar School in Woolwich, London. His first stage appearance was at age 13 but his early hopes of becoming a serious actor were dashed when he failed an audition for RADA. He began to entertain during World War II service in the British Army. It was at this time that he adapted his surname to Howerd "to be different". Despite suffering from stage fright, he continued to work after the war, beginning his professional career in the summer of 1946 in a touring show called For the Fun of It.
His act was soon heard on radio, making his debut in early December 1946 on the BBC's Variety Bandbox programme with a number of other ex-servicemen. His profile rose in the immediate postwar period (aided by material written by Eric Sykes, Galton and Simpson and Johnny Speight). In 1954, he made his screen début opposite Petula Clark in The Runaway Bus, which had been written for his specific comic talents, but he never became a major film presence. The film was so low-budget that they could not afford scenery; instead they used a fog generator so that little was visible behind the action. Even so, the film was an immediate hit.
Joan Sims
Joan Sims (1930-2001)
Joan Sims (1930-2001)
Joan Sims remembered by Leslie Phillips & Dilys Laye
TVam - Joan Sims interview, 1987
JOAN SIMS - 'Hurry Up Gran' - 1963 45rpm
Victoria Wood Episode 5 - Val de Ree (Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha) Better Quality
OUR HOUSE { A Thin Time}
Mrs Dangle's romantic experience
Death Report: Joan Simms (2001)
Comedy Map of Britain - Joan Sims Feature
Beryl Reid & Joan Sims - "Nothing In The House Except Percussion" 1968
Frankie Howerd, Joan Sims & Sid James interviewed on documentary Carry On Forever
Dry Rot Starring Sid James Brian Rix Joan Sims
Plot
Finicky,hygiene-obsessed comic actor Kenneth Williams,living in a flat block with mutually adoring mother Louie,looks back on his life. At loggerheads with his homophobic father over his career Kenny fulfils his dream of becoming a classical actor but is spun off into comedy,allowing full rein to his crowd-pleasing array of funny voices. A compulsive,often selfish performer off-screen,he becomes a national treasure following the radio show 'Round the Horne' and the successful series of film farces 'Carry On'... though he is disdainful of the latter,given that he once trod the boards with Orson Welles. Privately he is a tormented closet gay,sickened by his sexuality,unlike his friend,promiscuous playwright Joe Orton,and desperately asks his 'Carry On' co-star Joan Sims for a show marriage,which she refuses. Ultimately Louie's death,his own hypochondria,a down turn in work and a sense of his own isolation will result in a fatal encounter with a bottle of tablets in 1988.
Keywords: camp, carry-on, celibacy, diary, film-premiere, flasher, homosexuality, ill-health, male-full-frontal-nudity, male-nudity
Barbara Windsor: I think heaven's being left alone with a Steinbeck in the edit suite. You sit in front of your life and you're allowed to re-edit it. Cut the rotten bits, loop the sex, montage the good moments. Live it over and over, a bit better every time. And eventually, make it perfect.
Joan Sims
Joan Sims (1930-2001)
Joan Sims (1930-2001)
Joan Sims remembered by Leslie Phillips & Dilys Laye
TVam - Joan Sims interview, 1987
JOAN SIMS - 'Hurry Up Gran' - 1963 45rpm
Victoria Wood Episode 5 - Val de Ree (Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha) Better Quality
OUR HOUSE { A Thin Time}
Mrs Dangle's romantic experience
Death Report: Joan Simms (2001)
Comedy Map of Britain - Joan Sims Feature
Beryl Reid & Joan Sims - "Nothing In The House Except Percussion" 1968
Frankie Howerd, Joan Sims & Sid James interviewed on documentary Carry On Forever
Dry Rot Starring Sid James Brian Rix Joan Sims
Who is Joan Sims?
4.50 From Paddington (Radio Drama) June Whitfield Joan Sims Ian Lavender
1963 Joan Sims - Hurry Up Gran / Oh Not Again Ken
JOAN SIMS - 'The Lass With The Delicate Hair' - 1967 45rpm
JOAN SIMS Oh Not Again Ken
Norman Wisdom | Cinema with Joan Sims
Joan Sims - Sweet Lovely Whatsisname / The Lass with the Delicate Hair (1967)
Carry On Joan - Tribute to Joan Sims
Joan Sims Red Roses For A Blue Lady (Bert Kaempfert)
Carry On at Your Convenience - Sidney James - Kenneth Cope - Joan Sims - Carry On DVD Fan Commentary
Lets Play: The Sims 3 Latenight - (Part 33) - Joan Rivers
Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2000, HBO) Judi Dench, Ian Holm, Olympia Dukakis
"Love Among the Ruins" Katharine Hepburn - Lawrence Olvier - George Cukor (subtitulado)
"DOCTOR IN LOVE" 7/12/1960. (HD)
Our House 1960 EPISODE { Love to Georgina }
Stop Messing About Kenneth Williams Strip Poker S2 Ep14
Stop Messing About Kenneth Williams Across The River and Into The Trees S1 Ep1
Stop Messing About Kenneth Williams Frank Sinatra S2 Ep13
Stop Messing About Kenneth Williams The Monster S1 Ep9
Stop Messing About Kenneth Williams Time to Wind Up The Show S1 Ep3
Stop messing about Kenneth Williams Squire Jasper S1 Ep2
Our House 1960 EPISODE { Simply Simon }
Stop Messing About Kenneth Williams Astronauts S1 Ep10
Documentary - Legends of British Comedy Film - Film Night Special: Carry On Forever
Stop Messing About Kenneth Williams 1812 Overture S2 Ep11
Miley Cyrus & Joan Jett - Interview & Performance on The Oprah Show (2011) (HD)
THE UNFORGETTABLE YOOTHA JOYCE (Documentary - 2001)
Carry On Classics: Carry On Up The Jungle
Carry On Classics: Carry On England
Raw Footage Of Derrel Sims Interview On KPRC NBC Houston
Carry On Forever (edited version)
News Reports - Joan Sims' Death
RIP Dead Legends: Joan Sims