Everything about James Booth totally explained
James Booth (
19 December,
1927-
11 August,
2005) was the
stage name of
David Geeves. He was an
English film,
stage and
television actor and
screenwriter. Though 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 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 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. The Workshop's musical
Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be became a hit and Booth, who played its most pungent character, looked poised for stardom. Producer Irving Allen signed Booth to an exclusive contract with Warwick Films. The sixties, and especially the early sixties, represented the most active period of Booth's movie career, with
Zulu being the film for which he's best remembered. He will also be remembered for playing the part of Kenny Ames, a pornography baron living in enforced exile in Spain, in series 2 of
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet in 1985.
Though many observers expected Booth to become a mega-star, Booth's acting career stalled and nearly died. In interviews, Booth was surprisingly forthcoming about the reasons for his professional difficulties. These included his appearance in the flop
Twang!!, his alcoholism, his unaggressive approach to selling himself, his lack of connections, the decaying state of the British film industry in the seventies, 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.
When no one would offer Booth an acting job, he tried his hand at screenwriting and found a market for his services in Hollywood. From the mid-seventies to sometime in the nineties, Booth lived in southern California and worked primarily as a screenwriter, with occasional film or TV appearances.
In late life Booth moved back to England. He never retired.
He married
Paula Delaney in
1960 and they'd two sons and two daughters. He died in
Hadleigh, Essex on
11 August 2005 aged
77.
Selected filmography
Selected stage work
The Hostage (1958)... as an IRA officer at Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop
A Christmas Carol as Bob Cratchit for the Theatre Workshop
Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be... as Tosher
The Hostage (1959)... as an IRA officer at Wyndham's Theatre
The Fire-Raisers... for the Royal Court Theatre
The Caretaker (1962)... as Mick
The Comedy of Errors (1962)... for the RSC at Stratford-on-Avon
King Lear (1962)... as Edmund for the RSC at Stratford-on-Avon
A Thousand Clowns
Twang! (Shaftesbury (1965)... as Robin Hood
The Entertainer... as Archie Rice
Travesties (1975)... as James Joyce
Further Information
Get more info on 'James Booth'.
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