This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "James Booth" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

James Booth
Born	David Noel Geeves (1927-12-19)19 December 1927 Croydon,Surrey, England
Died	11 August 2005(2005-08-11) (aged 77) Hadleigh, Essex, England
Other names	David Geeves-Booth
Occupations	Actor screenwriter
Years active	1958–2005
Spouse	Paula Delaney ​ ​ (m. 1960)​
Children	4

James Booth (bornDavid Noel Geeves; 19 December 1927 – 11 August 2005) was an English film, stage and television actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his role asPrivate Henry Hook inZulu.

Variety called him "a punchy blend of toughness, potential evil and irresistible charm."^[1]

David Noel Geeves was born inCroydon,Surrey, on 19 December 1927, the son ofSalvation Armyprobation officer Captain Ernest Edward Geeves and Lillian Alice (née Edwards), also a Salvation Army officer. The Geeves family moved often due to their duties, serving mainly in working-class areas, where they were more financially comfortable than their neighbours; these early experiences of interacting with the working classes had a strong influence on Booth.^[2] Having been injured duringWorld War I and left with recurring partial paralysis that affected his ability to walk, Ernest Geeves died in 1938 after suffering a stroke; Lillian subsequently married Salvation Army Lieutenant-Colonel Cliff Barnes.^[3][4]

Booth was educated atSouthend Grammar School, which he left aged 17 to join thearmy. Having trained recruits in the use of the bayonet, he rose to the rank ofCaptain in tank transport. He spent several years working for an international trading company. However, his interest in acting soon took priority.^[5][2]

He successfully applied for a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he studied from 1954 to 1956. Classmates includedAlbert Finney,Peter O'Toole,Alan Bates andRichard Harris.^[1] Early in his career, he was advised to change his name, "Geeves" being reminiscent ofP. G. Wodehouse's fictionalJeeves.^[2]

Booth made his first professional appearance as a member of theOld Vic company in a production ofTimon of Athens (1956) withRalph Richardson. His first film role was a bit inThe Narrowing Circle (1956) and he had a small part inThe Girl in the Picture (1957).

He joinedJoan Littlewood'sTheatre Workshop at theTheatre Royal, Stratford East in 1958. He appeared on stage inThe Hostage (1958). For TV he appeared inThe Iron Harp and episodes ofWilliam Tell andThe Invisible Man.

Booth was in the cast ofSparrers Can't Sing. In 1960 he starred in the stage musicalFings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be which became a hit and Booth, who played its most pungent character, looked poised for stardom.^[6]

According to oneobituary, "Booth seemed to excite the theatre like a fountain of high spirits, with his cockney voice and his mischievous way of expressing himself, sometimes teasing, sometimes truly... Booth's manner with an audience, which he took into his confidence, was so personal...The reason for Booth's success lay simply with his personality. His height also helped. He would loom over the footlights with a commandingly wide grin. And his unpretentious manner added to the ease with which these early performances were accepted."^[7]

ProducerIrving Allen signed Booth to an exclusive contract withWarwick Films. By this stage he met and married Paula Delaney and he would later say "I don't know what kind of mess my life would be in today if it hadn't been for Paula and Irving. I'm a very insecure person. I've always needed someone to give me security. And they both did."^[1]

Booth's first sizeable film role was inJazz Boat (1960), directed by Ken Hughes for Warwick. That movie starredAnthony Newley andAnne Aubrey, who were also in Booth's next film,Let's Get Married (1960).

Hughes cast Booth in two more movies for Warwick,The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) with Peter Finch andIn the Nick (1960) with Newley and Aubrey.

The financial failure of these films saw the end of Warwick, but Irving Allen then used Booth in a movie for a new company,The Hellions (1961), shot in South Africa. Booth appeared on TV inThe Ruffians (1960) andThe Great Gold Bullion Robbery (1960), as well as the Rank comedyIn the Doghouse (1961).

In 1962 Booth spent a season with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He appeared inKing Lear alongsidePaul Scofield for Peter Brook. He also played inThe Caretaker.

Booth's first lead role came inSparrows Can't Sing (1963) directed by Littlewood. He then madeZulu (1964), the film for which he is best remembered; he was billed above Michael Caine.Joseph E. Levine put him under contract.

Booth didStray Cats and Empty Bottles (1964) for TV and played the lead in a comedy,French Dressing (1964), the feature debut ofKen Russell. It was a box office disappointment.

Booth was in Herb Gardner's play,A Thousand Clowns in London 1964. He starred in90 Degrees in the Shade (1964), a thriller, and the comedy,The Secret of My Success (1965). Neither movie was popular. A proposed film with Peter Sellers,Barbu, never materialised.^[8]

Booth starred as Robin Hood in the stage musicalTwang!! (1965), which was a troubled production (Littlewood resigned as director) and a notorious flop.^[9] Booth later claimed the failure of the musical put him out of work for a year.^[10]

Booth was a policeman in a heist movie,Robbery (1967), for Levine, alongside hisZulu co-starStanley Baker. He did a comedy with Shirley MacLaine,The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom (1968) thenFräulein Doktor (1969) andThe Vessel of Wrath (1970) for TV.

Booth went to Australia to makeAdam's Woman (1970) and playedRod Taylor's best friend inThe Man Who Had Power Over Women (1970). He worked with Taylor again inDarker Than Amber (1970).^[11] In 1970 he didThe Alchemist at the Chichester Festival and had a support role inMacho Callahan (1970), then the lead inRevenge (1971).

In 1972, he appeared on stage inThe Hostage for Joan Littlewood again. Booth returned to leads in the filmsRentadick (1972) andPenny Gold (1973) and TV comedyThem (1972).

Booth could be seen inThat'll Be the Day (1974),Percy's Progress (1974),The Confederacy of Wives (1975),Brannigan (1975), andI'm Not Feeling Myself Tonight (1976).

Booth appeared on Broadway in 1975 in a production ofTravesties. He then relocated to Hollywood and found work as a character actor in films likeAirport '77 (1977),Murder in Peyton Place (1977),Wheels (1978),Evening in Byzantium (1978),Jennifer: A Woman's Story (1979),Caboblanco (1980),The Jazz Singer (1980) andZorro: The Gay Blade (1981).

He also regularly guest starred on shows likeHart to Hart andThe Fall Guy along with TV movies likeHotline andThe Cowboy and the Ballerina (1984).

When no one would offer Booth an acting job, he tried his hand at screenwriting and found opportunities in Hollywood.^[12] His first writing credit wasSunburn (1979).

He was inPray for Death (1985) which he also wrote; he did double duty onAvenging Force (1986). He wrote the TV movieStormin' Home (1985).^[13]

As an actor only he was inBad Guys (1986). He played a pornography baron living in enforced exile in Spain in series 2 ofAuf Wiedersehen, Pet in 1986^[14] and was seen inMoon in Scorpio (1987),Deep Space (1988),The Lady and the Highwayman (1988), andHave a Nice Night (1990).

He wroteAmerican Ninja 2: The Confrontation (1988) andAmerican Ninja 4: The Annihilation (1990); he acted in the latter and was in episodes ofBergerac andTwin Peaks.^[15]

Later acting appearances includedGunsmoke: To the Last Man (1992),Inner Sanctum II (1994),The Breed (2001),Red Phone 2, andKeeping Mum (2005).

In later life Booth moved back to Britain. He never retired from performing.

He married Paula Delaney in 1960 and they had two sons and two daughters and lived in Buckinghamshire, Los Angeles andHadleigh, Essex,^[16] where he died on 11 August 2005 aged 77.^[17] His last film –Keeping Mum – was dedicated to his memory.

• Hall, Sheldon.Zulu: With Some Guts Behind It. Tomahawk Press, 2005.
• Noble, Peter.British Film and Television Yearbook: 1960/61. British and American Film Press, 1961.
• Walker, John.The Once and Future Film: British Cinema in the Seventies and Eighties. London: Methuen, 1985.

• James Booth atIMDb
• James Booth at theInternet Broadway Database
• BBC News - Zulu actor James Booth dies at 77
• The Scotsman - Obituaries: James Booth
• Hadleigh Local Site James Booth (1927-2005) PORTRAIT OF AN ACTOR last interview
• The Stage: Actor James Booth dies
• [1]

• 1927 births
• 2005 deaths
• Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
• English male soap opera actors
• Actors from the London Borough of Croydon
• English male stage actors
• English male film actors
• People from Hadleigh, Essex
• British Army personnel of World War II
• British Army officers
• Military personnel from the London Borough of Croydon
• Male actors from Surrey
• Male actors from Essex
• Military personnel from Essex
• People from Croydon

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles needing additional references from January 2013
• All articles needing additional references
• Use dmy dates from May 2021
• Use British English from May 2012
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English
• Articles with hCards
• Internet Broadway Database person ID same as Wikidata