Was Sidney James Married?

Sidney James, a South African-born actor, best known for his numerous roles in the Carry On series, was married three times.

James and his first wife, Berthe Sadie Delmont, were married in 1936 and a daughter, Elizabeth, was born in 1937; they were divorced in 1940, mainly as a result of his many relationships with other women.

In 1943, James married a dancer, Meg Sergei, née Williams (1913-1977); in 1948, they had a daughter Reina; they were divorced on 17 August 1952.

On 21 August 1952, James married Valerie Elizabeth Patsy Assan (born 1928), an actress who used Ashton as her stage name.

They had a son, Steve James, born in 1954, who is now a music producer, and a daughter, Sue, who is a television producer.

During the latter part of their marriage, they lived in a house partly designed by James himself, called Delaford Park, situated in Iver, Buckinghamshire, a location close enough to Pinewood Studios to allow him to return home for lunch while filming.

During his marriage to Valerie, he had a well-publicized affair with Carry On co-star Barbara Windsor lasting 3 years. The affair was dramatized in the 1998 stage-play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick and its 2000 television adaptation Cor, Blimey!.

James’s obsession with Windsor was such that it was rumored that her then-husband Ronnie Knight had all of James’s furniture rearranged at home as a subtle threat and, on another occasion, that he had put an ax on James’s floor, but close friends of the time, including Vince Powell and William G. Stewart, have dismissed the suggestions.

James was an inveterate and largely unsuccessful gambler, losing tens of thousands of pounds over his lifetime.

His gambling addiction was such that he had an agreement with his agent, Michael Sullivan, under which his wife was not told how much he was being paid so that a portion could be set aside for gambling.

James struck his pregnant girlfriend and struck his first wife when she was pregnant.

James died on 26 April 1976, after suffering from a heart attack. He was aged 62.