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'''James Booth''' (born '''David Geeves'''; 19 December 1927 – 11 August 2005) was an English film, stage and television actor and screenwriter. Though considered 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 best known for his role as [[Henry Hook (VC)|Private Henry Hook]] in ''[[Zulu (1964 film)|Zulu]].'' |
'''James Booth''' (born '''David Geeves'''; 19 December 1927 – 11 August 2005) was an English film, stage and television actor and screenwriter. Though considered 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 best known for his role as [[Henry Hook (VC)|Private Henry Hook]] in ''[[Zulu (1964 film)|Zulu]].'' |
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| ⚫ | Though many observers expected Booth to become a major star, his acting career stalled and nearly stopped. In interviews, Booth was 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. |
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== Early life == |
== Early life and career== |
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He was born in [[Croydon]], [[Surrey]], 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 [[British Army|army]]. He rose to the rank of [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|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. He was in the cast of ''Sparrers Can't Sing'', and musical ''[[Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be]]'' which became a hit and Booth, who played its most pungent character, looked poised for stardom.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/james-booth-p82445 |title = James Booth | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos}}</ref> Producer [[Irving Allen]] signed Booth to an exclusive contract with [[Warwick Films]]. |
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He was born in [[Croydon]], [[Surrey]], 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 [[British Army|army]]. He rose to the rank of [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Captain]]. He spent several years working for an international trading company. However, his interest in acting soon took priority. |
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He was trained at [[RADA]] and he made his first professional appearance as a member of the [[Old Vic]] company in a production of ''Timon of Athens'' (1956) with Ralph Richardson. His first film role was a bit in ''[[The Narrowing Circle]]'' (1956) and he had small parts in ''[[The Girl in the Picture]]'' (1957). |
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==Career== |
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===Joan Littlewood=== |
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He joined [[Joan Littlewood]]'s [[Theatre Workshop]] at the [[Theatre Royal, Stratford East]] in 1958. He appeared on stage in ''The Hostage'' (1958). For TV he appeared in ''The Iron Harp'' and episodes of ''William Tell'' and ''The Invisible Man''. |
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Booth was in the cast of ''Sparrers Can't Sing''. In 1960 he starred in the stage musical ''[[Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be]]'' which became a hit and Booth, who played its most pungent character, looked poised for stardom.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/james-booth-p82445 |title = James Booth | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos}}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | |||
===Warwick Films=== |
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Producer [[Irving Allen]] signed Booth to an exclusive contract with [[Warwick Films]] for whom Booth appeared in ''[[Jazz Boat]]'' (1960), directed by Ken Hughes. That movie starred [[Anthony Newley]] and [[Ann Aubrey]], who were also in Booth's next film, ''[[Let's Get Married]]'' (1960). |
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Hughes cast Booth in two more movies for Warwick, ''[[The Trials of Oscar Wilde]]'' (1960) with Peter Finch and ''[[In the Nick]]'' (1960) with Newley and Aubrey. |
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| ⚫ | Though many observers expected Booth to become a major star, his acting career stalled and nearly stopped. In interviews, Booth was 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. |
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The financial failure of these films saw the end of Warwick, but Irving Allen then used Booth in a movie for a new company, ''[[The Hellions]]'' (1961), shot in South Africa. Booth appeared on TV in ''The Ruffians'' (1960) and ''The Great Gold Bullion Robbery'' (1960), as well as the Rank comedy ''[[In the Doghouse]]'' (1961). |
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At Stratford he was in ''The Comedy of Errors'' (1962) then at the RSC he was in ''King Lear'' (1962-63) alongside [[Paul Scofield]] for Peter Brook. |
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==Film Stardom== |
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| ⚫ | |||
Booth did ''Stray Cats and Empty Bottles'' (1964) for TV and played the lead in a comedy, ''[[French Dressing]]'' (1964), the feature debut of [[Ken Russell]]. It was a box office disappointment. |
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Booth was in Herb Gardner's play, ''A Thousand Clowns'' in London 1964. He starred in ''[[90 Degrees in the Shade]]'' (1964), a thriller, and the comedy, ''[[The Secret of My Success (1965 film)|The Secret of My Success]]'' (1965). Neither movie was popular. |
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Booth was a policeman in a heist movie, ''[[Robbery (1967 film)|Robbery]]'' (1967), for Levine, alongside his old ''Zulu'' co star [[Stanley Baker]]. He did a comedy with Shirley MacLaine, ''[[The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom]]'' (1968) then ''[[Fräulein Doktor]]'' (1969) and ''The Vessel of Wrath'' (1970) for TV. |
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===1970s=== |
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Booth went to Australia to make ''[[Adam's Woman]]'' (1970) and played [[Rod Taylor]]'s best friend in ''[[The Man Who Had Power Over Women]]'' (1970). He worked with Taylor again in ''[[Darker Than Amber]]'' (1970). In 1970 he did "The Alchemist" at the Chichester Festival and had support roles in ''[[Macho Callahan]]'' (1970), and ''[[Revenge (1971 film)|Revenge]]'' (1971). |
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In 1972 he appeared on stage in ''The Hostage'' for Joan Littlewood again. Boothr eturned to leads in the films ''[[Rentadick]]'' (1972) and ''[[Penny Gold]]'' (1973) and TV comedy ''The'' (1972). |
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Booth could be seen in ''[[That'll Be the Day]]'' (1974), ''[[Percy's Progress]]'' (1974), ''[[The Confederacy of Wives]]'' (1975), ''[[Brannigan (film)|Brannigan]]'' (1975), and ''[[I'm Not Feeling Myself Tonight]]'' (1976). |
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==Hollywood== |
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Booth appeared on Broadway in 1975 in a production of ''Travesties''. He then relocated to Hollywood and found work as a character actor in films like ''[[Airport '77]]'' (1977), ''[[Murder in Peyton Place]]'' (1977), ''[[Wheels]]'' (1978), ''[[Evening in Byzantium]]'' (1978), ''[[Jennifer: A Woman's Story]]'' (1979), ''[[Caboblanco]]'' (1980), ''[[The Jazz Singer (1980 film)|The Jazz Singer]]'' (1980) and ''[[Zorro: The Gay Blade]]'' (1981). |
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He also regularly guest starred on shows like ''[[Hart to Hart]]'' and ''The Fall Guy'' along with TV movies like ''Hotline'' and ''[[The Cowboy and the Ballerina]]'' (1984). |
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===Screenwriting=== |
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When no one would offer Booth an acting job, he tried his hand at screenwriting and found opportunities in Hollywood.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b772d8b6c |title = Stormin' Home (1985)}}</ref> His first writing credit was ''[[Sunburn (film)|Sunburn]]'' (1979). |
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He was in ''[[Pray for Death]]'' (1985) which he also wrote; he did double duty on ''[[Avenging Force]]'' (1986). He wrote the TV movie ''[[Stormin' Home]]'' (1985) |
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As an actor only he was in ''[[Bad Guys]]'' (1986). He played a pornography baron living in enforced exile in Spain in series 2 of ''[[Auf Wiedersehen, Pet]]'' in 1986<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6efb6e9f |title = No Sex Please We're Brickies (1986)}}</ref> and was seen in ''[[Moon in Scorpio]]'' (1987), ''[[Deep Space]]'' (1988), ''[[The Lady and the Highwayman]]'' (1988), and ''[[Have a Nice Night]]'' (1990). |
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He wrote ''[[American Ninja 2: The Confrontation]]'' (1988) and ''[[American Ninja 4: The Annihilation]]'' (1990); he acted in the latter and was in episodes of ''Bergerac'' ad ''Twin Peaks''. |
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When no one would offer Booth an acting job, he tried his hand at screenwriting and found opportunities in Hollywood.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b772d8b6c |title = Stormin' Home (1985)}}</ref> From the mid-1970s to sometime in the 1990s, 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]]''.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734822/fullcredits#cast IMDb - ''Twin Peaks'' Episode No. 2.8 (1990) - Full Cast & Crew]</ref> He played a pornography baron living in enforced exile in Spain in series 2 of ''[[Auf Wiedersehen, Pet]]'' in 1986.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6efb6e9f |title = No Sex Please We're Brickies (1986)}}</ref> |
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===Later career=== |
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Later acting appearances included ''[[Gunsmoke: To the Last Man ]]'' (1992), ''[[Inner Sanctum II]]'' (1994), ''[[The Breed]]'', ''[[Red Phone 2]]'', and ''[[Keeping Mum]]'' (2005). |
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In later life Booth moved back to Britain. He never retired from performing. |
In later life Booth moved back to Britain. He never retired from performing. |
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Revision as of 12:31, 6 October 2020
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2013) |
James Booth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | David Geeves 19 December 1927 |
| Died | 11 August 2005 (aged 77) Hadleigh, Essex, England |
| Other names | David Geeves-Booth |
| Years active | 1958–2005 |
| Spouse |
Paula Delaney
(m. 1960) |
| Children | 4 |
James Booth (born David Geeves; 19 December 1927 – 11 August 2005) was an English film, stage and television actor and screenwriter. Though considered 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 best known for his role as Private Henry Hook in Zulu.
Though many observers expected Booth to become a major star, his acting career stalled and nearly stopped. In interviews, Booth was 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 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. By 1974 he was bankrupt, heavily in debt and was forced to return to the stage.
Early life and career
He was born in Croydon, Surrey, on 19 December 1927, the son of a probation officer. He was educated at 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 in a production of Timon of Athens (1956) with Ralph Richardson. His first film role was a bit in The Narrowing Circle (1956) and he had small parts in The Girl in the Picture (1957).
Joan Littlewood
He joined Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East in 1958. He appeared on stage in The Hostage (1958). For TV he appeared in The Iron Harp and episodes of William Tell and The Invisible Man.
Booth was in the cast of Sparrers Can't Sing. In 1960 he starred in the stage musical Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be which became a hit and Booth, who played its most pungent character, looked poised for stardom.[1]
Warwick Films
Producer Irving Allen signed Booth to an exclusive contract with Warwick Films for whom Booth appeared in Jazz Boat (1960), directed by Ken Hughes. That movie starred Anthony Newley and Ann Aubrey, who were also in Booth's next film, Let's Get Married (1960).
Hughes cast Booth in two more movies for Warwick, The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) with Peter Finch and In the Nick (1960) with Newley and Aubrey.
The financial failure of these films saw the end of Warwick, but Irving Allen then used Booth in a movie for a new company, The Hellions (1961), shot in South Africa. Booth appeared on TV in The Ruffians (1960) and The Great Gold Bullion Robbery (1960), as well as the Rank comedy In the Doghouse (1961).
At Stratford he was in The Comedy of Errors (1962) then at the RSC he was in King Lear (1962-63) alongside Paul Scofield for Peter Brook.
Film Stardom
Booth's first lead role came in Sparrows Can't Sing (1963) directed by Littlewood. He then made Zulu (1964), the film for which he is best remembered; he was billed above Michael Caine. Joseph E. Levine put him under contract.
Booth did Stray Cats and Empty Bottles (1964) for TV and played the lead in a comedy, French Dressing (1964), the feature debut of Ken Russell. It was a box office disappointment.
Booth was in Herb Gardner's play, A Thousand Clowns in London 1964. He starred in 90 Degrees in the Shade (1964), a thriller, and the comedy, The Secret of My Success (1965). Neither movie was popular.
Booth was a policeman in a heist movie, Robbery (1967), for Levine, alongside his old Zulu co star Stanley Baker. He did a comedy with Shirley MacLaine, The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom (1968) then Fräulein Doktor (1969) and The Vessel of Wrath (1970) for TV.
1970s
Booth went to Australia to make Adam's Woman (1970) and played Rod Taylor's best friend in The Man Who Had Power Over Women (1970). He worked with Taylor again in Darker Than Amber (1970). In 1970 he did "The Alchemist" at the Chichester Festival and had support roles in Macho Callahan (1970), and Revenge (1971).
In 1972 he appeared on stage in The Hostage for Joan Littlewood again. Boothr eturned to leads in the films Rentadick (1972) and Penny Gold (1973) and TV comedy The (1972).
Booth could be seen in That'll Be the Day (1974), Percy's Progress (1974), The Confederacy of Wives (1975), Brannigan (1975), and I'm Not Feeling Myself Tonight (1976).
Hollywood
Booth appeared on Broadway in 1975 in a production of Travesties. He then relocated to Hollywood and found work as a character actor in films like Airport '77 (1977), Murder in Peyton Place (1977), Wheels (1978), Evening in Byzantium (1978), Jennifer: A Woman's Story (1979), Caboblanco (1980), The Jazz Singer (1980) and Zorro: The Gay Blade (1981).
He also regularly guest starred on shows like Hart to Hart and The Fall Guy along with TV movies like Hotline and The Cowboy and the Ballerina (1984).
Screenwriting
When no one would offer Booth an acting job, he tried his hand at screenwriting and found opportunities in Hollywood.[2] His first writing credit was Sunburn (1979).
He was in Pray for Death (1985) which he also wrote; he did double duty on Avenging Force (1986). He wrote the TV movie Stormin' Home (1985)
As an actor only he was in Bad Guys (1986). He played a pornography baron living in enforced exile in Spain in series 2 of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet in 1986[3] and was seen in Moon in Scorpio (1987), Deep Space (1988), The Lady and the Highwayman (1988), and Have a Nice Night (1990).
He wrote American Ninja 2: The Confrontation (1988) and American Ninja 4: The Annihilation (1990); he acted in the latter and was in episodes of Bergerac ad Twin Peaks.
Later career
Later acting appearances included Gunsmoke: To the Last Man (1992), Inner Sanctum II (1994), The Breed, Red Phone 2, and Keeping Mum (2005).
In later life Booth moved back to Britain. He never retired from performing.
Personal life
He married Paula Delaney in 1960 and they had two sons and two daughters and lived in Buckinghamshire, Los Angeles and Hadleigh, Essex,[4] where he died on 11 August 2005 aged 77.[5] His last film – Keeping Mum – was dedicated to his memory.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | The Narrowing Circle | Bit Role | Uncredited |
| 1957 | The Girl in the Picture | Office boy | Credited as David Greever |
| 1960 | Jazz Boat | Spider Kelly | |
| Let's Get Married | Photographer | ||
| The Trials of Oscar Wilde | Alfred Wood | ||
| In the Nick | Spider Kelly | ||
| 1961 | The Hellions | Jubal | |
| In the Doghouse | Bob Skeffington | ||
| 1963 | Sparrows Can't Sing | Charlie Gooding | |
| 1964 | Zulu | Private Henry Hook VC | |
| French Dressing | Jim | ||
| 1965 | Ninety Degrees in the Shade | Vorell | |
| The Secret of My Success | Arthur Tate | ||
| 1967 | Robbery | Inspector George Langdon | |
| 1968 | The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom | Ambrose Tuttle | |
| 1969 | Fräulein Doktor | Meyer | |
| 1970 | Adam's Woman | Dyson | |
| Darker than Amber | Burk | ||
| Macho Callahan | Harry Wheeler | ||
| The Man Who Had Power Over Women | Val Pringle | ||
| 1971 | Revenge | Jim Radford | |
| 1972 | Rentadick | Simon Hamilton | |
| 1973 | That'll Be The Day | Mr MacLaine | |
| Penny Gold | Matthews | ||
| 1974 | Percy's Progress | Jeffcott | |
| 1975 | Brannigan | Charlie the Handle | |
| 1976 | I'm Not Feeling Myself Tonight | S.J. Nutbrown | |
| 1977 | Airport '77 | Ralph Crawford | |
| 1978 | Evening in Byzantium | Jack Conrad | |
| 1980 | Caboblanco | John Baker | |
| The Jazz Singer | Paul Rossini | ||
| 1981 | Zorro, The Gay Blade | Valasquez | |
| 1985 | Pray for Death | Willie Limehouse | |
| 1986 | Bad Guys | Lord Percy | |
| Avenging Force | Admiral Brown | (also co-wrote) | |
| 1987 | The Retaliator | Dr Brock | aka Programmed to Kill |
| 1988 | Deep Space | Dr Forsyth | |
| 1990 | American Ninja 4: The Annihilation | Mulgrew | |
| 1994 | Inner Sanctum II | Detective Hooper | |
| 2001 | The Breed | Fleming | |
| 2004 | The Pool | Patrick | |
| 2005 | Keeping Mum | Mr Brown | (final film role) |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958-59 | The Adventures of William Tell | Various | 3 episodes |
| 1964 | First Night | Newton | Episode: Stray Cats and Empty Bottles |
| 1971 | Shirley's World | Edmund Remberg | Episode: A Mother's Touch |
| 1972 | Bonanza | Reverend | Episode: "Second Sight" |
| 1975 | The Sweeney | Vic Labbett | Episode: Poppy |
| 1978 | Wheels | Sir Phillip Sturdevant | Miniseries |
| 1982 | The Fall Guy | Ian Graham | Episode: Child's Play |
| 1985-93 | Minder | Godfrey and Toby 'Jug' Johnson | 2 episodes: Give Us This Daley's Bread and Gone with the Winchester |
| 1986 | Auf Wiedersehen, Pet | Kenny Ames | 8 episodes |
| 1990-91 | Twin Peaks | Ernie Niles | 5 episodes |
| 1991 | Lovejoy | Mordechai Frobel | 1 episode |
| 2000 | The Bill | Freddy Walker | Episode: Crime and Punishment |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956-57 | Richard III | Old Vic, London | |
| 1958 | The Hostage | IRA officer | Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop |
| A Christmas Carol | Bob Cratchit | For the Theatre Workshop | |
| 1959 | Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be | Tosher | Theatre Royal, Stratford |
| The Hostage | IRA officer | Wyndham's Theatre | |
| 1961-62 | The Fire Raisers | Royal Court Theatre | |
| 1962 | The Caretaker | Mick | |
| The Comedy of Errors | RSC, Stratford-on-Avon | ||
| King Lear | Edmund | RSC, Stratford-on-Avon | |
| 1965 | Twang! | Robin Hood | Shaftesbury |
| 1973 | The Entertainer | Archie Rice | [6] |
| 1975-76 | Travesties | James Joyce | RSC & Noel Coward Theatre, London & Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York |
| 1987-88 | Peter Pan | Mr Darling/Captain James Hook | Tyne Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne and Opera House[7] |
Further reading
- Hall, Sheldon. Zulu: With Some Guts Behind It. Tomahawk Press, 2005.
- 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
- ^ "James Booth | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos".
- ^ "Stormin' Home (1985)".
- ^ "No Sex Please We're Brickies (1986)".
- ^ The Hadleigh and Thundersley Community Archive Retrieved 2016-10-21.
- ^ Shorter, Eric (16 August 2005). "(Obituary) James Booth". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
- ^ Hall, 2005, p. 155
- ^ Hall, 2005, p. 155
External links
- James Booth at IMDb
- James Booth at the Internet Broadway Database
- BBC News - Zulu actor James Booth dies at 77
- The Scotsman - Obituaries: James Booth
- The Stage: Actor James Booth dies
- [1]
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