Sid on Sid

What better way of getting to know a little bit more about the real Sid James than by hearing from the man himself? Here is a selection of fascinating quotes given by Sid in various interviews conducted over the course of his long career.

Sid on his early life in South Africa...

"I've done gold-digging and polishing. I've been a stevedore, a coal-heaver, a boxer, a wrestler, a junior clerk for two days and an electrician's apprentice for about an hour, at the end of which I blew the lights in a whole building. I've also taught skating and dancing."

"Years ago when I was a child, not a child but a youngster, I used to do a lot of diamond digging."

Sid on money...

"I like to spend it but my wife likes to save it. The big thing that matters is that the kids should have the best possible education and that I should be able to leave them something."

"I want to make as much money as I possibly can in the shortest amount of time, so that I can clear right out of show-business and spend the rest of my days fishing." 

"My accountant looks after my money. I try to see that he has a little left at the end of the flat season to keep the tax people happy."

Sid on his face...

"A face like mine grows on people...like a carbuncle."

"I didn't think I stood much of a chance with a mug like mine. A few thousand cases of gin, some boxing, late nights in my youth, hundreds of gee-gees and worry lines left by the taxman."

Sid on the Carry On films...

"It's just one hysterical laugh from start to finish. Not at the jokes but at each other."

"I think in every single Carry On I've ever done, I've been soaked to the skin. I think Tolly Rothwell now does it on purpose!"

Sid on his career and stardom...

"I was very lucky."

"There is nothing la-di-da about me. Perfect strangers in the street I meet yell out 'Wotcha Sid! How's it going?' I like that. I think that's real nice."

" I'm what you would call a reluctant star. I don't want to be a star."

Sid on Tony Hancock...

" Hancock's Half Hour was the best thing that ever happened to me."

"A great comic. More than a comic...an acting comic.The two of us are dead opposites. I suppose that's why we hit it off so well."

Sid on horses and gambling...

"I've got the losing gambler's walk. Head down looking for a winning tote ticket."

" I was taught to read with a racing sheet."

Sid on relaxing...

"I love taking it easy. I like, more than anything, fishing and lying in the sun."

Sid on what he'd like to be remembered for...

"The losers I've backed."

  "I've been such a lucky sod! I've made people laugh and I've got a wonderful woman."