James Booth

Biography

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 is best remembered. 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. 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 had two sons and two daughters. He died in Hadleigh, Essex on 11 August 2005 aged 77. Selected filmography: The Narrowing Circle (1956) The Girl in the Picture (1957) Jazzboat (1960)... as Spider Kelly Let's Get Married (1960)... as Photographer The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960)... as Alfred Wood In the Nick (1960) Jazz Boat (1960) In the Doghouse (1961) The Hellions (1961) as Jubal French Dressing (1963)...as Jim Sparrows Can't Sing (1963)... as Charlie Gooding Zulu (1964)... as Private Henry Hook VC French Dressing (1964) Ninety Degrees in the Shade (1965) The Secret of My Success (1965)... as Arthur Tate Robbery (1967)... as Inspector George Langdon The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom (1968)... as Ambrose Tuttle Fräulein Doktor (1969)... as Meyer Adam's Woman (1970) Darker Than Amber (1970) Macho Callahan (1970) The Man Who Had Power Over Women (1970) Revenge (1971)... as Jim Radford Rentadick (1972) That'll Be The Day (1973)... as Mr MacLaine Penny Gold (1973) Percy's Progress (1974)... as Jeffcott Brannigan (1975)... as Charlie the Handle I'm Not Feeling Myself Tonight (1976) Airport '77 (1977)... as Ralph Crawford Caboblanco (1980) The Jazz Singer (1980) Zorro, The Gay Blade (1981)... as Valasquez Pray for Death (1985) as Limehouse Bad Guys (1986)... as Lord Percy Avenging Force (1986)... as Admiral Brown (also co-wrote) American Ninja 4 (1990)... as Mulgrew Inner Sanctum II (1994)... as Detective Hooper The Breed (2001)... as Fleming The Pool (2004)... as Patrick Keeping Mum (2005)... as Mr. Brown Selected television: The Sweeney (1975) (TV Series...as Vic Labbett (episode 'Poppy') The Fall Guy (1982) (TV series)... as Ian Graham Minder Give Us This Daley's Bread (1984)... as Godfrey Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1986) (TV series)... as Kenny Ames Twin Peaks (1990) (TV series)... as Ernie Niles Minder "Gone With The Winchester" (1993)... as Toby 'Jug' Johnson