Jim Dale (born James Smith; 15 August 1935) is an English actor, composer, director, narrator, singer and songwriter. In the United Kingdom he is known as a pop singer of the 1950s who became a leading actor at the National Theatre. In British film, he is now one of the last surviving actors to appear in multiple Carry On films.
Dale was also a leading actor on Broadway, where he had roles in Scapino, Barnum, Candide and Me and My Girl. He also narrated the U.S. audiobooks for all seven novels in the Harry Potter series, for which he won two Grammy Awards. Dale appeared in the ABC series Pushing Daisies (2007–2009); he also starred in the Disney film Pete's Dragon (1977). He was nominated for a BAFTA Award for portraying a young Spike Milligan in Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (1973).
As a lyricist, Dale was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for the song "Georgy Girl", the theme for the 1966 film of the same title.
Early life
Dale was born James Smith, to William Henry and Miriam Jean (née Wells) Smith in Rothwell, Northamptonshire. He was educated at Kettering Grammar School. He trained as a dancer for six years before his debut as a stage comic in 1951. He completed two years of national service in the Royal Air Force.
Career
Music
At the age of 22, Dale became the first pop singer to work with Parlophone head George Martin. He achieved four hits on the UK Singles Chart; "Be My Girl" (1957, UK No. 2), "Just Born (To Be Your Baby)" (1958, UK No. 27), "Crazy Dream" (1958, UK No. 24), and "Sugartime" (1958, UK No. 25). Dale recorded an album with Martin, Jim! (1958), and appeared contemporaneously as a presenter and performer on BBC Television's Six-Five Special, but he was vocal about comedy aspirations and his career as a teen idol was ultimately short-lived.
As a songwriter, Dale is best remembered as the lyricist for the film theme "Georgy Girl", for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in 1966. The song (performed by the Seekers) reached number 2 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart the following year, it also made number 3 in Dale's native UK and Number 1 in Australia, going on to sell over 11 million records around the world. He also wrote lyrics for the title songs of the films The Winter's Tale, Shalako, Twinky (Lola in the United States) and Joseph Andrews. He also wrote and recorded the song "Dick-a-Dum-Dum (King's Road)", which became a hit for Des O'Connor in 1969.
Between 1957 and 1958, Dale was the compère for Stanley Dale's National Skiffle Contest, a touring music competition.
Film
Dale's film debut was in Break-In (1956), a War Office information film. He next appeared in Six Five Special (1958), a spin-off from the BBC TV series of the same title. This film was also released under the name Calling All Cats. He then had a tiny role in the comedy Raising the Wind (1961) as a trombone player who thwarts orchestral conductor Kenneth Williams. However, he is best known in Britain for his appearances in eleven Carry On films, a long-running series of comedy farces, generally playing the hapless romantic lead. His Carry On career began in small roles: first as an expectant father in Carry On Cabby (1963), which was followed by Carry On Jack (1964). From Carry On Spying (1964) onwards, his roles were more substantial. Following Carry On Cleo (1964), his first principal role was Carry On Cowboy (1965), set in the Wild West, where he played an immigrant English sanitary engineer called Marshall P. Knutt who is mistakenly hired as a police marshal. Then came Carry On Screaming! (1966), Don't Lose Your Head (1966), Follow That Camel (1967), Carry On Doctor (1967), Carry On Again Doctor (1969) and the 1992 revival Carry On Columbus.
Dale played Harold, the policeman in the 1965 comedy film The Big Job with two of his regular Carry On co-stars, Sidney James and Joan Sims.
In 1973, he appeared in the role of Spike Milligan in Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall, the film adaptation of the first volume of Spike Milligan's autobiography. It starred Dale as the young Terence "Spike" Milligan, while Milligan himself plays the part of his father, Leo. Dale was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles for his performance.
He played Dr. Terminus in Walt Disney's Pete's Dragon (1977). In the 1978 Walt Disney comedy film Hot Lead and Cold Feet he played three characters, including both lead male parts, whilst 1973 saw him co-star in The National Health.