Joan Sims

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Irene Joan Marion Sims (born May 9, 1930 in Laindon , Essex , Great Britain , † June 28, 2001 in London ) was a British actress .

Life

Joan Sims was born the daughter of a station master. She spent a lot of time at her father's train station, imitating the passengers. Already in her youth she appeared in amateur theater productions. A friend of her childhood was her future colleague Dilys Laye . At school, she kept getting noticed for entertaining the class with her jokes. She made her West End debut in Intimacy at Eight and subsequently appeared in theaters in Manchester , Glasgow and Salisbury . In 1946 she tried for the first time to be accepted at a drama school. However, she failed, and only succeeded on her fourth attempt and graduated in 1950. She made her film debut in 1953 in Will any Gentlemen . Among other things, the director of the film Michael Anderson was one of the reviewers who dropped her through one of the entrance exams at the drama school. Since The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954) she was committed to comic roles. During this time, she also had a brief affair with Tyrone Power . She had to end her relationship with Anthony Baird at the request of her parents, who did not accept the "wild marriage".

She had her first major success as a frustrated nurse in the first film in the doctoral film series Aber, Herr Doktor… . During this time she played mostly young women without self-confidence and "ugly ducklings". While filming Aber, Herr Doktor , she was noticed by the husband of the producer of the film Betty E. Box - Peter Rogers - who was also a film producer. So she was cast four years later for the second part of the carry-on… film series . She even played in Carry On Admiral , which despite a similar title is not part of the Carry-on ... film series. She was only missing in six of the other 29 films, which earned her the nickname The First Lady of Carry On (not the title Queen of Carry On - Barbara Windsor got this title , although she only appeared in nine parts). She was also seen in three other films in the Doctoral series. Sometimes she embodied brittle and resolute women, sometimes neglected, in need of love, sometimes also naive. She was often the film partner of Sidney James , Kenneth Williams and Peter Butterworth . With Sidney James she starred in 17 films, mostly as a married couple. That is a record in film history.

In the filming of Love at dusk ( Love Among the Ruins , TV movie, 1975) Joan Sims made friends with Katharine Hepburn on. After the Carry-on… film series came to a temporary end in 1978, Joan Sims became a very busy television actress. She has only returned to the theater four times since her breakthrough as a film actress. After the deaths of her mother, agent, and good friend Hattie Jacques , Joan Sims developed an alcohol addiction in the early 1980s. In 1988 the filming of a new carry-on ... was planned, but the deaths of Charles Hawtrey and Kenneth Williams prevented filming of Carry On Again Nurse from starting . In the remake of the carry-on series, Sims was supposed to play Isabella of Spain in 1992. However, she turned it down because of what she thought was the poor script and the role went to June Whitfield . Joan Sims has played well over 100 film and television roles in her career.

Joan Sims, who was unmarried all her life, died on June 28, 2001 after an operation and a coma lasting several weeks at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London . During her death, her long-time friend Norah Holland, who was also Joan Sim's body double, held her hand. Her urn is buried in Putney Vale Cemetery in London. In her honor, the tribute The Unforgettable Joan Sims was broadcast on the BBC in 2002 . A plaque in her honor was unveiled near Thackeray Street, Kensington in 2002, and in 2005 on her birthplace in Laindon.

Her nickname was "Queen of Puddings". In the TV movie Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! , the autobiography of Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims is played by Beatie Edney .

Filmography (selection)

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personal data
SURNAME Sims, Joan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sims, Irene Joan Marion (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actress
DATE OF BIRTH May 9, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Laindon , Essex , England , UK
DATE OF DEATH June 28, 2001
Place of death London , UK