Editing Sid James (section)

===From 1947 to 1968===
James made his first credited film appearances in ''[[Night Beat (1947 film)|Night Beat]]'' and ''[[Black Memory]]'' in 1947, both crime dramas. He played the alcoholic hero's barman in [[Powell and Pressburger]]'s ''[[The Small Back Room]]'' in 1949. ''The Lavender Hill Mob'' in 1951 was his first comedy film, ranked 17th out of the 100 best British films by the [[British Film Institute]]: with [[Alfie Bass]], he made up the bullion robbery gang headed by [[Alec Guinness]] and [[Stanley Holloway]]. He also appeared in ''[[Lady Godiva Rides Again]]'' and ''[[The Galloping Major (film)|The Galloping Major]]'', both films were released in 1951, and as Harry Hawkins in ''[[The Titfield Thunderbolt]]'' (1953), and also had a lead role in ''[[The Wedding of Lilli Marlene]]''. He featured in another Alec Guinness film, ''[[Father Brown (film)|Father Brown]]'' (US: ''The Detective'', 1954) and in ''[[Trapeze (film)|Trapeze]]'' (1956) as Harry the snake charmer, a circus film which was one of the most successful films of its year, and he played Master Henry in "Outlaw Money" (also 1956), an episode of ''[[The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series)|The Adventures of Robin Hood]]''.

James had a supporting part as a TV advertisement producer in [[Charlie Chaplin]]'s ''[[A King in New York]]'', a non-comic supporting role as a journalist in the science-fiction film ''[[Quatermass 2]]'', and he performed in ''[[Hell Drivers (film)|Hell Drivers]]'' (all 1957), a film with [[Stanley Baker]]. The next year, James starred with [[Miriam Karlin]] in ''[[East End, West End]]'' by [[Wolf Mankowitz]], a half-hour comedy series for the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] company [[Associated Rediffusion]]. Set within the Jewish community of London's East End, the series of six episodes was transmitted in February and March 1958, but plans for further episodes were abandoned after a disappointing response. For a while though, it had looked as if his commitment elsewhere might end his work with Tony Hancock, one of the most popular television comedians of the time.<ref>Cliff Goodwin ''Sid James: A Biography'', London: Virgin Books, 2001, p.121-22</ref>

He had begun working with Tony Hancock in 1954, in his [[BBC Radio]] series ''[[Hancock's Half Hour]]''. Having seen him in ''The Lavender Hill Mob'', it was the idea of Hancock's writers, [[Galton and Simpson]], to cast James. He played a character with his own name (but having the invented middle name Balmoral) who was a petty criminal and would usually manage to con Hancock in some way, although the character eventually ceased to be Hancock's adversary. With the exception of James, the other regular cast members of the radio series were dropped when the series made the transition to television. His part in the show now greatly increased, and many viewers came to think of Hancock and James as a double act.

[[File:Hancocks-Half-Hour.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Tony Hancock]] (right) with James in ''[[Hancock's Half Hour]]'']]

Feeling the format had become exhausted, Hancock decided to end his professional relationship with James at the end of the sixth television series in 1960. Although the two men remained friends, James was upset at his colleague's decision. The experience led to a shift away from the kind of roles for which he had become best known. He remained the lovable rogue but was keen to steer clear of criminal characters; in 1960 he turned down the part of Fagin in the original West End staging of ''[[Oliver!]]'' for that very reason.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ross |first=Robert |title=Sid James - The Authorised Biography |year=2009 |publisher=JR Books |isbn=978-1-906779-35-1 |page=87}}</ref> Galton and Simpson continued to write for both James and Hancock for a while, and the Sidney Balmoral James character resurfaced in the ''[[Citizen James]]'' (1960–1962) series. Sid James was now consistently taking the lead role in his television work. ''[[Taxi! (British TV series)|Taxi!]]'' (1963–64) was his next series. A comedy-drama rather than a sitcom, it was created by [[Ted Willis, Baron Willis|Ted Willis]], but although it ran to two series, the programme was not particularly successful.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

In 1964, he made his first of two appearances on ''The [[Eamonn Andrews]] Show''. The first few moments of the opening credits of one of them can be heard and seen in the television show ''[[Undermind (TV series)|Undermind]]'', Episode 6, "Intent to Destroy", broadcast on 12 June 1965. His name is heard announced, and the show is seen on a television camera seconds later.<ref>Cliff Goodwin ''Sid James: A Biography'', London: Virgin Books, 2001, p.151</ref>

In 1968, James, [[Val Doonican]] and [[Arthur Askey]] were filmed playing golf in the village of [[Cockington]] near [[Torquay]] ([[British Pathé]] archives, film reference 457.1), for their production ''Viva Torbay: Travelling to the British Seaside''.