Sid James

In the final programme celebrating comic actors from mid-20th century British film, Simon Heffer turns his gaze on a man whose priapic laugh alone merits an entire radio series.

Sid James was at the heart of the phenomenally successful Carry On films and one of the most recognisable comic actors of his day.

Throughout the 1950s and '60s, the many roles he played were all, in essence, the same. As Simon Heffer puts it: "To say Sid had range as an actor would be to do him an injustice".

But Sid was not, by birth, a wise-cracking Cockney geezer. His roots go back to Johannesburg, where he started life as Solomon Joel Cohen and started work in a hairdressing salon.

Producer: Beaty Rubens

First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in April 2015.