Sid James on Tony Hancock

[@rickmartin5132]

Hancocks Half Hour has been ringing in my ears since I was 4 yrs old! - I'm 70 now and still listen and laugh every time.

[@dougmartin893]

Same here.

[@waynekerr5645]

My mum and dad met whilst working with Tony Hancock, so I owe him a great deal 😉

[@davew4998]

H H H Hancock's Half Hour.

[@rchas1023]

@@davew4998 '... '... '...

[@myoung8951]

Sid was a terrific actor, technically very proficient. 100% reliable and a great foil. Not flexible, but solid. A South African who came to the UK and became a professional Cockney, but was never dependent on Hancock. Even during the Half Hour years he was making ten films a year, and I think was heartbroken Hancock broke off the partnership, but they were never a double act. The naturalism of the radio and TV was revolutionary in terms of sitcom. I listen to HHH every night to get to sleep. xxx

[@JamesRichards-mj9kw]

Cohen was an Israeli.

[@silkyammer]

One take sid 👍

[@anthonyfrew1571]

It is often forgotten how fine a dramatic actor Sid was - there are more than 40 films when this ability comes to the fore

[@Alan-ss3xp]

We have been members of the Tony Hancock Society for many years. Over that period of time we have had many splendid guests . June Whitfield, Liz Frazer and Anthony Bygraves. Our first reunion had Paul Merton and Galton and Simpson. Sid’s recollections are superb. Thank you.

[@slyph63]

This is the first time I've heard Syd talk while not being in character. So different.

[@losttango]

You can just hear a tiny hint of his original South African accent...

[@Jeremy-y1t]

@@losttango He was an Israeli.

[@losttango]

@@Jeremy-y1t No he wasn't. He was Jewish, that doesn't make him an Israeli. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_James

[@losttango]

@@Jeremy-y1t No he wasn't. He was Jewish. That's not the same thing at all.

[@Jeremy-y1t]

@@losttango Any Jew can be referred to as an Israeli - see George Goodman.

[@EM-yk1dw]

Sid James is legendary, especially his laugh.

[@jkluionmhjkyui]

started listening to Hancock when i was 11, i used to borrow my dads cassettes...still listening today..48yrsold

[@Seftdelmer]

Ditto

[@martinepstein3332]

The affection that Sid had for Hancock is clear for all to hear

[@ArsLonga1967]

What beautiful sentiments, voiced by a true, caring friend. Sid James could have held onto a lot of negative feelings regarding Tony Hancock but he didn't, he knew his friend was in crisis. What a fantastic testament this recording is to their friendship and to Sid James' character.

[@MarkHarrison733]

Cohen punched pregnant women.

[@boum62]

Whether he was good or bad privately I think sid.James was an incredibly interesting and talented actor. I love he speaks so well.of Hancock.

[@piplee1439]

His Name was Solomon Cohen and he first saw London and England at age 34. But this man, epitomises England and the English more than they do in 2022. What empathy and humanity to speak about the man who dropped him years before in such terms.

[@gordontaylor5373]

They were great friends.

[@JamesHenderson-wk4hd]

@@piplee1439 He was hardly going to speak badly about Hancock.

[@piplee1439]

@@JamesHenderson-wk4hd no, he boost Sids career no end.

[@JamesHenderson-wk4hd]

@@piplee1439 It would have made Cohen look bad.

[@kmat3802]

Hancock broke new ground for comedy and was easily one of just a handful of all time great comedians. And Magna Carta did not die in vain!

[@robertm7071]

“Brave Hungarian peasant girl who forced King John to sign the pledge at Runnymede and close the boozers at half past ten"

[@jantyszka1036]

Galton and Simpson broke new ground for comedy. Tony Hancock performed it brilliantly. But when he tried to create comedy himself, things went very wrong for him. He was a comic actor, not a comedian.

[@MarkHarrison733]

Nobody could have thought that Magna Carta was a woman.

[@ianmcpherson3615]

How sad. Nice to hear Sid’s thoughts and memories, though.

[@PaulHunter-ih1ye]

Hancock's half hour along with the Navy Lark were the Greatest Radio Comedies ever aired. Wonderful, intelligent and never to be forgotten personalities. Lovely interview with a reflective and sensitive Sidney James. R.I.P Tony and Sid.❤

[@swanseamale47]

I still listen to both. Two great comedy shows, sadly almost unknown to the younger generations.

[@JBs_Surf_and_Skate]

I’m 44. I listened to them both with my dad, I now listen to them with my young daughters. With each generation, some of the humour is lost in translation. They are still my favourites, Dads Army and Round the Horne close behind.

[@gunnerdownunner570]

Listen to tony whilst delivering thy mail on my mail round, only discovered him on Spotify because of my love of steptoe and Galton and Simpson, simply a joy, back on thy postie bike in thy morrow, cheers all Hancock fans 🍺🍺🍺from new🥝🥝🥝zealand 😁😁😁

[@ysgol3]

A beautiful reminder that the real Sid, contrary to what so many people still seem to assume, was nothing like 'Sid'. He was very clever, thoughtful and sensitive.

[@JamesHenderson-wk4hd]

He punched pregnant women.

[@stewartkee6115]

@@JamesHenderson-wk4hd He did no such thing. What a lowlife you are.

[@stewartkee6115]

Yes, people who knew and worked with Sid always had good things to say about him.

[@Jeremy-y1t]

@@stewartkee6115 Including the women he punched?

[@stewartkee6115]

@@Jeremy-y1t sources. And make them better than tabloid crap.

[@citizen1163]

What a gem!! Thanks for sharing ❤ Imagine being out shopping & seeing Tony Hancock & Sid James together! Those were the days! I wouldn’t cross the street to see any of today’s so called celebrities.

[@richardbrown1189]

Remarkable interview. Some fascinating insights. Tony would have been 100 this year. RIP

[@anthonyfrew1571]

Tony And Sid -together and apart - are two of my favorite performers

[@anthonyfrew1571]

This is a lovely interview - I worked with a couple of people (now deceased) who worked with Sid -They loved him - he comes across as a really nice man

[@Jeremy-y1t]

He punched pregnant women.

[@LVPAcharn]

God love them both,,,,

[@catherinegriessel56]

Whole cast long gone jow but truly BRILLIANT still make me and my children laugh

[@toothumbs]

Amazing interview, thanks for sharing.

[@peterm1826]

My mother used to deliver bread in late 60s 70s and part of her delivery area was Bellevue Hill in Sydney she actually met Tony Hancock he asked her for half a loaf my mother gave it to him for free she never knew who he was until he died she remembered he looked lost and seemed to be worried. But he was polite

[@HarryNicNicholas]

benny hill used to deliver milk to my dad's house in southampton.

[@NewFalconerRecords]

@@HarryNicNicholas Apparently he had a rather swift milk cart.

[@tonybates7870]

​@@NewFalconerRecords The fastest in the West, I've heard . . .

[@losttango]

I recall rather liking The Punch and Judy Man when I saw it on tv about 50 years ago. Must be about time to watch it again.....

[@petermorris9818]

I love watching that film.

[@StephenLyons-tl8ie]

Such a sad end.

[@robertm7071]

Really lovely to hear. Part of my childhood. He appealed to all ages but let’s not forget Galton and Simpson who provided him with those wonderful lines. Even as a boy the words resonated with me because Hancock voiced the concerns and opinions we all had. I recall the Sunday afternoon sketch with Hancock laying on the settee and just sighing with boredom - just how Sundays were in those days. Hancock’s big mistake was getting rid of Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Williams (he resented the laughs he got) and, first and foremost, Galton and Simpson.

[@Sol-Cutta]

He was absolutely rubbish on his own.. there's no doubt he had , as Sid says a knack for performance but when it came to writing , he was abysmal. Galton and Simpson were the genius that pulled out the real elements of his character to be exaggerated within the formula for Hancock of East cheam. Had he, from the very start lived in a location with no setting , maybe that could have helped his international debut but saying about deleting all the slang of punch up the bracket and such like, I'm not sure. Maybe someone should edit a Hancock episode without the slang and see if it still impacts.

[@davidevans3227]

one of my favourites is a Christmas episode with full cast (not just sid and Tony) And a couple of children lol

[@martinusher1]

As a recall I line delivered from the boring Sunday afternoon by Hatty Jacques summed it up - out of the blue was "Oh look! Its raining!".

[@esmeephillips5888]

​@@martinusher1 Tony to Miss Pugh: 'I thought my mother was a bad cook, but at least her gravy used to move about.'

[@paulweir5031]

Laying is incorrect, he was lying on the settee.

[@sonraysonic3146]

thank God he passed this way and gave a lot . Still have to watch the Rebel -much underrated- a few times a year. Great man, sad end.rip

[@lesliearadi3747]

Tony and Sid where a couple of great flawed geniuses

[@kenc4104]

I remember as kids we would point to our toe, our knee, our hand and well, you know the rest.

[@TheRealist2022]

So glad that Sid was accepting of the split and not bitter. I don't know, I'm not a doctor, but it seems to me that TH was a a depressive or perhaps bipolar. The same guy, these days would be much better off with current treatments.

[@demon27dan]

Certainly a severe depressive, exacerbated with heavy alcohol use.

[@markwalker2627]

​@@demon27dan mental illness and alcohol issues are common and more so in Bipolar sadly. They tend to have addictive traits and drug misuse is common😢

[@algiles881]

It is a great tribute to Sid James, that, 48 years after his death (26/4/76) you only have to say "Sid" and everybody will know who you are talking about.

[@Jeremy-y1t]

Few people know about Cohen now.

[@algiles881]

@@Jeremy-y1t A bit anti-Semitic - and people DO remember him.

[@Jeremy-y1t]

@@algiles881 How is that anti-Semitic? Only people well into middle age have heard of the wife beater now.

[@algiles881]

@@Jeremy-y1t If you have to ask, you are clearly not worth bothering with

[@Jeremy-y1t]

@@algiles881 "Sid James" was just made up, like his Mockney accent.

[@roberttownsend7397]

This interview shows what a decent man Sid James really was. Hancock was a great comic but his ego was his undoing and finally led to his destruction. Hancock became increasingly envious of Sid James as his popularity began to equal his on his TV show. He got Sid sacked from the show without warning which caused a great deal of bitterness at the time. Sid, an old fashioned gent clearly bore Hancock no lasting bitterness. Strangely Sid James own demise was not all that different from Hancock's. He suffered a heart attack in the late 1960's and he was warned to cut down on the smoking and drinking, which he did. But in the mid 1970's something went badly wrong for Sid and he began to drink a bottle of whiskey a day and chain smoked.. His daughter later said that he was on such a downward spiral that nothing could save him, he seemed to have lost the will to live. And so as we all know he died on stage in 1975 or 76. As Monkhouse said about the comedians of the past 'all that remains is the echo of forgotten laughter'.

[@paullynton-green6570]

He died in April 1976.

[@andyallom4357]

The story goes, somebody telephoned his agent and says, "Sid's died on stage in Sunderland". The agent replies, "Don't worry. Everybody dies on stage in Sunderland". May or may not be true. But this one definitely is. Les Dawson was doing a show at the Sunderland Empire and swore he saw Sid's ghost. Not sure why, but it frightened him so much, he never played the Empire again after.

[@gordontaylor5373]

@@andyallom4357 The agent was Jack Douglas's brother, Bill Roberton.

[@marquonuk]

I don't think I've ever heard Sid being interviewed before. In the absence of any other info, I think we automatically equate a character with an actor. In other words, we imagine that the person is just like the roles he plays. Here he's clearly heard to be a far more eloquent and intelligent man than the comedy characters he portrayed! :-)

[@henryjonesjnr6844]

Radio Gold Hancock's Half Hour

[@alangould1465]

Just like those little,spoilt brats in the Harry Potter films(never watched them). All got rich off the talents of J.K.Rowling and all now hate her because she states that there are only men and women?

[@rjw4762]

Tony Hancock was years ahead of his time....such a shame the way his life ended.

[@rodkirkbride2230]

Sid, and Diana Coupland. Their voices are my childhood. RIP. Hancocks great but I'm more interested in Sid. Watch the old re-runs of Bless this House. The takes go on forever and every line delivered (just about!) on queue. Great stuff. Great upload! Cheers.

[@paullynton-green6570]

He died in April 1976.

[@glenallen196]

Adore them both!!

[@carlogambino5047]

Brilliant.

[@frglee]

Sid tells Babs Windsor that last story in 'Cor, Blimey!' , a 2000 ITV film that follows the relationship between Carry On film actors Sid James (played by Geoffrey Hutchings) and Barbara Windsor (played by Samantha Spiro).

[@kennethgarland4712]

It's interesting hearing Sid talking in his normal accent, still with traces of his South African origins.

[@Jeremy-y1t]

He was an Israeli.

[@kennethgarland4712]

@@Jeremy-y1t he was Jewish, but born and bred in S Africa.

[@Jeremy-y1t]

@@kennethgarland4712 Any Jew can be referred to as an Israeli - see George Goodman.

[@7ANGLIA]

WE ALL STILL FIND FUNNY LINES WE HAVE MISSED, EVEN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS😂

[@robandchristheateam5053]

Some shallow comments without appreciating flawed genius. Hancock the Everyman. Such pathos.

[@danrkelly]

I wonder how we would diagnose Hancock's illness today (aside from alcoholism)? I like to think he would have gotten much more appropriate help in this century.

[@herseem]

Not if he'd relied on the NHS. The currently available therapy in most circumstances is CBT which, from all the people I know who've engaged in it, adresses issues at a superficial level and doesn't dig into underlying causes anywhere remotely adequately.

[@TheSeafordian]

@@louis-yt6595 Louis. Quit the would ofs.

[@TheSeafordian]

@@louis-yt6595 Sence?

[@markwalker2627]

​@@louis-yt6595yeah you make sence😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@frederickanderson1860]

Not many know prior to the famous blood donor sketch ,he was in a car crash and haf head injuries, lmthink it changed him more,his memory and behaviour.

[@londonwestman1]

Perhaps some of Tony's problems stemmed from the writing in the later Hancock's Half Hour series. There seemed to be an increasingly recurrent theme that Sid's character was cunning, devious and street smart. And Sid's character often ended the show getting the upper hand. In fact part of the issue might have been that the characters actually had actors' own names. With long-running shows it can be disturbing for the actor when their character suffers in the fiction.

[@simontaylor2319]

I understood from Tony Hancock 's Writers that he didn;y want to carry on working with Sid & Bill Kerr as a threesome, but just on his own (Australia trip) Will Hay was the same - he wantede to be successful on his wn without Moore Marriott & Graham Moffatt

[@WadeRaney-vv5oi]

👍🙂

[@MrMjp58]

Everybody has an opinion. He should never have jettisoned Sid, all his supporting cast and especially the peerless writers, Galton and Simpson. That alone was his biggest mistake. He should never have done that Face to Face thing and the producers of it should never have asked him. Poring over every little half thought out personal view, especially in public, is rarely a good thing, for listener or participant. Navel gazing. Poor old Tony.

[@nomikhan437]

do you have full MYL part 4 ?

[@malcolmjawohowelll2892]

It's a terrible thing to be lost and dissatisfied with oneself .. tony had this weakness.of taking things apart being dissatisfied with himself and unsure of what direction to continue with professionally . . At his best his ego as matched y his skill as a comic actor ..at his worst he undermined himself with u realistic expectations and abuse of alcohol speeded up the destructive tendencies ..as it does in most ..some are saved ....Tony was manic depressive I think

[@markwalker2627]

I suspect he was bipolar. He seems to have all the traits. 😢

[@johnrider3749]

He should have returned to his writers after the failure of the ITV series,

[@demon27dan]

I don't think Galton and Simpon would have worked with him again. He was too unreliable and an alcoholic by this point, and they were busy with Steptoe & Son. They wrote a musical called 'Noah' in 1966 and the producers wanted Hancock in the lead, but G&S were not convinced it would work. Nevertheless, they agreed to meet with him over lunch to discuss the project. Hancock turned up an hour late and drunk, G&S knew they would never write for him again after that.

[@ysgol3]

That photo at 7.50 looks to me to be from their final work together, making a record of two TV shows in 1965. Hancock's timing had gone completely, I wish those recordings could be wiped!

[@jantyszka1036]

Apparently Hancock's delivery was so slow and sluggish the half-hour scripts lasted 40 minutes and they had to be severely edited. I'm not certain he was drunk while recording, but alcohol has affected him very badly. Sid was so angry at Hancock's lack of professionalism he swore never to work with him again.

[@polygonalmasonary]

2:08 Ah the days when men wore Bromberg hats and bothered about their appearance 😊🕵️‍♂️🇬🇧🙏🌈♥️

[@SteveOliver-hh3rc]

Sid and Tony - better than Laurel and Hardy and Laurel and Hardy were geniuses!

[@BillyBombastic]

PHWOOOOOARR

[@angelsone-five7912]

Hancock only had one enemy - himself..............

[@Jeremy-y1t]

He had zero talent.

[@davidevans3227]

..good evenin'.. 🙂

[@maggiemay9381]

Sid sounds a bit posh.

[@jnuttso1]

When you get to big for your boots and cut the people who made you sadly a bad decision

[@MarkHarrison733]

It's a shame Solomon Cohen punched pregnant women.

[@Useaname]

Oh please

[@MarkHarrison733]

@@Useaname He openly admitted it.

[@markwalker2627]

​@@MarkHarrison733 which might show he had remorse rather than denying it?

[@JamesHenderson-wk4hd]

Hancock wasn't even funny. Solomon Cohen punched pregnant women.

[@Useaname]

Oh please

[@MarkHarrison733]

@@Useaname Cohen openly admitted it.

[@whovotedforthat]

Never found Tony Hancock funny

[@borderlands6606]

Same here. That kind of quiet desperation seemed too close to the character. I have friends who split their sides at HHH but Hancock seemed to be playing himself much of the time.

[@Jeremy-y1t]

Hancock was not funny at all.

[@MarkHarrison733]

Hancock wasn't at all funny. People watched any unfunny rubbish when there were only two television channels.

[@mark-shane]

haha.. go and watch your so called 'Funny men " today UNFUNNY I mean

[@paulweir5031]

Spot on.

[@paulweir5031]

Paul Merton tried to use the scripts a few years ago and the results were appalling. Same Galton and Simpson words but he couldn't deliver, unlike Hancock.

[@MarkHarrison733]

@@paulweir5031 Merton is not an actor. Eric Sykes would have played the role much better than Hancock did.

[@whovotedforthat]

Agreed👍

[@toneclear1878]

Hancock was crap! Period

[@andycapp5581]

Your in the minority there old chap…

[@louis-yt6595]

Opinions are like arse holes.. everyones got one

[@johnrusin4952]

Such a well thought out and reasoned comment

[@stevenfinch9026]

Can u read and write

[@toneclear1878]

@@stevenfinch9026 ye a can fanx... I'm right anyway....he ain't as good as you all think and that my friend's (ha) is da truth! He's rubbish compared to Ronnie Barker or Dave Allen . I watched,I thought, I gave my opinion. Short and sweet as it was, that was my final assessment and that is what I am schtinkezy wiv . Glad to be of use to you all though 😘

[@Tawny6702]

You can just discern a bit of the South African accent from Sid here, something you never heard in his acting!

[@eddielasowsky7777]

Tony Hancock really sounded like the most insufferable bore. The fact he couldn't stand that James, Williams, Galton & Simpson et al got any credit at all says everything about the man.