Jim Dale was 'delighted' to be in eight Carry On films.
Jim Dale “was delighted” to be in eight ‘Carry On’ films.
The 87-year-old actor loved working with people like Sid James, Dame Barbara Windsor and many other British showbiz icons in the comedy franchise in eight of the 31 films in the series and appreciated how no one tried to “hog the spotlight” like in 'Carry On Doctor'.
He told the Oldie magazine: “I was delighted just to be a part of the ‘Carry On’ team and it was a joy to work with such funny people. They were also very giving. They didn’t try to hog the spotlight. You knew that at some point during a ‘Carry On’ flm the camera would be on you alone.”
Jim spilled that the only person he was “friendly with” from the gang was the late Kenneth Williams, who would come visit him, his then-wife Patricia Gardiner and their four kids.
He said: “The only person I really became friendly with was Kenneth, who came round my house occasionally.”
The ‘Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World’ star - who is now married to Julie Schafler - went on to share a home truth his co-star delivered to a producer about being “treated like s***” on set.
Jim said: “As Kenneth once said to the producer, ‘You can treat us like royalty and pay us nothing we don’t mind, or can you treat us like s*** and pay us a lot of money and we don’t mind, but you can’t pay us no money and treat us like s***!”
Elsewhere, the ‘Be My Girl’ hitmaker - who worked with producer George Martin, who went on to work with The Beatles - loved the “screaming girls” he encountered during his pop career in the 50s.
Jim said: “I’d go on stage and there would be all these screaming girls in the audience, and I’d think, ‘Where were you a year ago when I was a comic?’”