William Haines

William Haines has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to Motion Pictures, at 7012 Hollywood Boulevard. After one experience during a gig there, the comedian Les Dawson refused to play the venue again. They were interred side by side in the Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery. Later it was rumoured that a ghost of Sid was in the dressing room he occupied on the night of his death. Shields committed suicide soon after. He suffered a heart attack on the opening night of The Mating Season at the Sunderland Empire and died on the way to hospital at the age of 62. Haines died from lung cancer in Santa Monica, California. He later enjoyed success at the head of casts of TV situation comedies, notably George and the Dragon, Taxi and Bless This House.

Joan Crawford, a lifelong friend described them as "the happiest married couple in Hollywood". films all together. Haines and Shields remained together for the rest of their lives. James ultimately made 19 Carry On.. Gloria Swanson extended him a personal invitation to appear with her in the film Sunset Boulevard (1950) but he refused. star, but he had been dropped after just one film due to a complex contractual embarrassment (he was contracted to the ABC film studio who had never used him). Haines never returned to films. It was intended that Ray would become a recurring Carry On..

The couple finally settled into the Hollywood community in Malibu, and their business prospered until their retirement in the early 1970s. When Hancock had Sid dropped from the show, Sid returned to films to become a leading member of the 'Carry On' team, originally to replace Ted Ray who had appeared in Carry On Teacher in 1959. Marion Davies asked Hearst to use his influence to ensure the neighbours were prosecuted to the full extent of the law, but ultimately Haines and Shields chose not to report the incident. The show was one of the most popular comedy series in Britain on both television and radio. Crawford, along with other stars such as Claudette Colbert, Kay Francis and Charles Boyer urged the men to report this to the police. In the final series, the show was renamed simply Hancock and Sid was not included in the cast. Their lives were disrupted in 1936 when homophobic neighbours, dressed in sheets and wearing hoods to hide their faces, dragged the two men from their home and beat them. James was soon getting as many laughs as his partner.

Among their early clients were friends such as Joan Crawford and Carole Lombard, Marion Davies and William Randolph Hearst. When this was turned into a television series his part was greatly increased to the extent that some viewers considered it to be a double act. Haines and Shields began a successful career as interior designers and antique dealers. In 1954 he began working with Tony Hancock in BBC radio's Hancock's Half Hour playing a character with his own name, who was a criminal who would usually manage to con Tony. Haines chose Shields and Mayer terminated his contract, quickly recasting Robert Montgomery in roles that had been planned for Haines. In 1956, he co-starred in the science-fiction film Quatermass 2. Mayer pressured Haines to end his relationship with Shields and marry. He made a successful transition into talking pictures and maintained his star status until 1934 when Mayer finally delivered him an ultimatum, and forced him to choose between Shields and his career. In the same year he also appeared in Lady Godiva Rides Again and The Galloping Major.

Studio publicists were able to keep this information from the press, however studio head Louis B. His first major comedy was The Lavender Hill Mob: with Alfie Bass he made up the bullion robbery gang headed by Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway. Haines lived openly as a homosexual man, and from 1926 lived with Jimmy Shields, whom he had met during the production of a film. Initially he worked in repertory before being spotted by the nascent British post-war film industry, making his first appearance in 1947 in the film Night Beat. He appeared in successes such as Sally, Irene and Mary (1926 with newcomers Joan Crawford and Constance Bennett), West Point (1927 also with Crawford), and scored his biggest personal success with Show People (1928), opposite Marion Davies. He came to Britain in 1946 on the back of his service gratuity. He was cultivated as a romantic leading man, and his combination of good looks and flair for comedy won him many fans. During World War II, he was enlisted in an entertainment unit, and subsequently took up acting as a career.

By 1925 he was MGM's most important male star, and his films were very profitable for the studio. Sid James (Sidney Joel Cohen) was born in Natal in South Africa. After winning a talent contest he moved to Hollywood where he played bit parts for several years until MGM Studios began casting him in more prominent roles. Sid James (May 8, 1913 - April 26, 1976) was a film and television actor. Born in Staunton, Virginia, Haines left his home while in his teens and moved to New York City. William Haines (January 2, 1900 - December 26, 1973) was a US film actor who was one of the most successful film stars of the silent era.