Joan Sims

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Joan Sims
Image:Joan Sims.jpg Joan Sims as Madge Hardcastle
Birth name	Irene Joan Marian Sims
Born	9 May 1930 Laindon, Essex, England
Died	28 June 2001 Chelsea, London, England

Irene Joan Marion Sims (9 May 1930 – 28 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.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Carry On career 3 Later career 4 Final years 5 Personal Life 6 Tributes 7 Further reading 8 External links

Early life

Joan 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, 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, Joan graduated and trained at RADA. She graduated from RADA in 1950 at the age of 19.

Carry On career

Joan Sims made her first film appearance in Trouble in Store in 1953, before appearing as Nurse Rigor Mortis in Doctor in the House the following year. A cameo appearance in the film as the sexually repressed Nurse Rigor Mortis led to Sims being first spotted by Carry On film producer Peter Rogers. Rogers' wife Betty E. Box was the producer of the Doctor series, in which Sims herself became a regular.

A few years later, in 1958, Sims received another script from Peter Rogers, it was for Carry On Nurse. The film Carry On Sergeant had been a huge success at the box office and in the autumn of that year Rogers and Gerald Thomas began planning a follow up.

She first starred in Carry On Nurse, then Carry On Teacher, followed by Carry On Constable. Sims also appeared in Carry On Regardless, and this sealed her future as a Carry On film regular performer. Following a bout of ill health, Dilys Laye had to be brought in to take her place in Carry On Cruising at very short notice, however Sims rejoined the team with Carry On Cleo. Following the success of Carry On Cleo she stayed with the films all the way though to the final film, Carry On Emmannuelle, having appeared in 24 Carry On films.

Later career

With the end of the Carry On series in 1978, she had several roles in sitcoms such as On The Up. Sims also guest starred in two episodes of the British comedy series The Goodies. In 1986 Sims appeared in the long-running BBC science fiction series Doctor Who serial The Trial of a Time Lord: The Mysterious Planet in the part of Katryca. She also appeared as Betsy Prig in an adaptation of Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit and as Lady Foulkes-Custard in Simon and the Witch. From 1994, she became famous on television for playing Madge Hardcastle in As Time Goes By

Final years

Joan Sims suffered with Bell's Palsy in 1999, which caused depression and alcoholism. In 2000, Sims released an autobiography called High Spirits. She fractured her hip in 2000 and spent two weeks in the Conquest Hospital in Hastings. She was provided with a replacement hip and recovered well. Sims was worried that she would not be able to return to the screen following illness, although she did for one last time. Her last performance was alongside Judi Dench and Olympia Dukakis in The Last of the Blonde Bombshells. She was admitted to a hospital in Chelsea in London in mid-2001 for surgery, however she slipped into a coma and died on 28 June 2001, with her lifelong friend and Carry On stand-in Norah Holland holding her hand. She was cremated at Putney Cemetery and her ashes scattered in the grounds.

Personal Life

Joan Sims never married during her life, like her fellow Carry On star Kenneth Williams. Williams did however propose marriage to her, but she abruptly declined - saying he was too homosexual to make a good husband.

Tributes

Following her death, surviving Carry On Barbara Windsor, said "To me she was the last of the great Carry Ons, she was there at the beginning. Her talent was wonderful, she could do any accent, dialect, she could dance, sing, play dowdy and glam. We laughed all the time and giggled a lot. I will sorely miss her". A plaque dedicated to her memory was unveiled where she lived at Thackeray Street in Kensington in September 2002 by Barbara Windsor and in June 2005 a plaque in her memory was unveiled at Laindon railway station in Essex by the Joan Sims Appreciation Society.

Further reading

• High Spirits by Joan Sims (ISBN 1-85225-280-4)

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