More Info on James BoothSimilar Undetermined MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
other uses|James Booth (disambiguation)Infobox person| name = James Booth| image =| imagesize =| caption =| birth_name = David Geeves| birth_date = Birth date|1927|12|19|df=y| birth_place = Croydon , Surrey , England | death_date = Death date and age|2005|8|11|1927|12|19|df=y| death_place = Hadleigh, Essex , England| othername = David Geeves-Booth| yearsactive = 1958-2005| spouse = Paula Delaney (1960-2005) (his death) 4 children| website = James Booth (born David Geeves ; 19 December 1927 - 11 August 2005) was an English film, stage and television actor and screenwriter. Though handsome enough to play leading roles, and versatile enough to play a wide variety of character parts, Booth naturally projected a shifty, wolfish, or unpredictable quality that led inevitably to villainous roles and comedy, usually with a cockney flavour. He is probably best known for his role as Henry Hook (VC)|Private Henry Hook in Zulu (film)|Zulu and Vic Fielding in the United Kingdom|British soap opera Coronation Street .
Biography
He was born in Croydon , Surrey , England on 19 December 1927, the son of a probation officer. He was educated at Southend High School for Boys|Southend Grammar School , which he left aged 17 to join the army. He rose to the rank of Captain. He spent several years working for an international trading company. However, his interest in acting soon took priority. He was trained at RADA and he made his first professional appearance as a member of the Old Vic company, before joining Joan Littlewood 's Theatre Workshop at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East in 1958. The Workshop's musical '' Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be became a hit and Booth, who played its most pungent character, looked poised for stardom. Producer Irving Allen signed Booth to an exclusive contract with Warwick Films .
The sixties, and especially the early sixties, represented the most active period of Booth's movie career, with Zulu (film)|Zulu being the film for which he is best remembered. Joseph E. Levine put him under contract. He will also be remembered for playing the part of Kenny Ames, a pornography baron living in enforced exile in Spain, in series 2 of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet in 1985.
Though many observers expected Booth to become a major star, his acting career stalled and nearly died. In interviews, Booth was surprisingly forthcoming about the reasons for his professional difficulties. These included his appearance in the flop stage musical Twang! in 1965, the flop film The Secret of My Success (1965 film)|The Secret of My Success opposite such popular actresses as Honor Blackman and Shirley Jones , his alcoholism, his unaggressive approach to selling himself, his lack of connections, and his own failure to work hard because everything came so easily to him at first. Booth also turned down the lead role of Alfie (1966 film)|Alfie . By 1974 he was bankrupt, heavily in debt, and was forced to return to the stage.
When no one would offer Booth an acting job, he tried his hand at screenwriting and found a market for his services in Hollywood. From the mid-seventies to sometime in the nineties, Booth lived in southern California and worked primarily as a screenwriter, making occasional film or TV appearances, including a cameo appearance in the second series of Twin Peaks (1990). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734822/fullcredits#cast IMDb - Twin Peaks Episode #2.8 (1990) - Full Cast & Crew
In later life Booth moved back to England. He never retired.
He married Paula Delaney in 1960 and they had two sons and two daughters. He died in Hadleigh, Essex on 11 August 2005 aged 77. His last film - Keeping Mum - was dedicated to his memory.
Selected filmography
The Narrowing Circle (1956)
The Girl in the Picture (1957 film)|The Girl in the Picture (1957)
'' Let's Get Married (1960 film)|Let's Get Married (1960)... as Photographer
The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960)... as Alfred Wood
In the Nick (1960)
Jazz Boat (1960)
In the Doghouse (1961)
The Hellions (film)|The Hellions (1961) as Jubal
French Dressing (film)|French Dressing (1963)...as Jim
'' Sparrows Can't Sing (1963)... as Charlie Gooding
Zulu (film)|Zulu (1964)... as Alfred Henry Hook|Private Henry Hook VC
French Dressing (film)|French Dressing (1964)
Ninety Degrees in the Shade (1965)
The Secret of My Success (1965 film)|The Secret of My Success (1965)... as Arthur Tate
Robbery (1967 film)|Robbery (1967)... as Inspector George Langdon
The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom (1968)... as Ambrose Tuttle
Fräulein Doktor (1969)... as Meyer
'' Adam's Woman (1970)
Darker Than Amber (1970)
Macho Callahan (1970)
The Man Who Had Power Over Women (1970)
Revenge (1971 film)|Revenge (1971)... as Jim Radford
Rentadick (1972)
'' That'll Be the Day (film)|That'll Be The Day (1973)... as Mr MacLaine
Penny Gold (1973)
'' Percy's Progress (1974)... as Jeffcott
Brannigan (film)|Brannigan (1975)... as Charlie the Handle
'' I'm Not Feeling Myself Tonight (1976)
'' Airport '77 (1977)... as Ralph Crawford
Caboblanco (1980)
The Jazz Singer (1980 film)|The Jazz Singer (1980)
Zorro, The Gay Blade (1981)... as Valasquez
Pray for Death (1985) as Limehouse
Bad Guys (movie)|Bad Guys (1986)... as Lord Percy
Avenging Force (1986)... as Admiral Brown (also co-wrote)
American Ninja 4 (1990)... as Mulgrew
Inner Sanctum II (1994)... as Detective Hooper
The Breed (film)|The Breed (2001)... as Fleming
The Pool (2004 film)|The Pool (2004)... as Patrick
Keeping Mum (2005)... as Mr. Brown
Selected television
The Fall Guy (1982) ( TV series )... as Ian Graham
Minder Give Us This Daley's Bread (1984)... as Godfrey
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1986) ( TV series )... as Kenny Ames
Twin Peaks (1990) ( TV series )... as Ernie Niles
Minder Gone With The Winchester '' (1993)... as Toby 'Jug' Johnson
Selected stage work
The Hostage (play)|The Hostage (1958)... as an IRA officer at Joan Littlewood 's Theatre Workshop
A Christmas Carol as Bob Cratchit for the Theatre Workshop
'' Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be ... as Tosher
The Hostage (play)|The Hostage (1959)... as an IRA officer at Wyndham's Theatre
The Fire-Raisers ... for the Royal Court Theatre
The Caretaker (1962)... as Mick
The Comedy of Errors (1962)... for the Royal Shakespeare Company|RSC at Stratford-on-Avon
King Lear (1962)... as Edmund (King Lear)|Edmund for the RSC at Stratford-on-Avon
A Thousand Clowns
Twang! ( Shaftesbury (1965)... as Robin Hood
The Entertainer (film)|The Entertainer ... as Archie Rice
Travesties (1975)... as James Joyce
Further reading
Noble, Peter. British Film and Television Yearbook: 1960/61 . British and American Film Press, 1961.
Walker, John. The Once and Future Film: British Cinema in the Seventies and Eighties . London: Methuen, 1985.
References
reflist
External links
IMDb name|0095718
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4155876.stm BBC News - Zulu actor James Booth dies at 77
http://news.scotsman.com/obituaries.cfm? id=1783392005 The Scotsman - Obituaries: James Booth
http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/9149 The Stage: Actor James Booth dies
http://www.jamesbooth.org
Persondata| NAME =Booth, James | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =19 December 1927 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Croydon , Surrey , England | DATE OF DEATH =11 August 2005 | PLACE OF DEATH = Hadleigh, Essex , England DEFAULTSORT:Booth, James Category:1927 births Category:2005 deaths Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Category:English actors Category:English soap opera actors Category:People from Croydon
