James Booth

James Booth, born David Noel Geeves on 19 December 1927 in Croydon, Surrey, was an English actor and screenwriter who worked across film, stage, and television until his death on 11 August 2005. He is best remembered for his portrayal of Private Henry Hook in the 1964 film Zulu, in which he received billing above Michael Caine. His father, Captain Ernest Edward Geeves, was a Salvation Army probation officer who had sustained injuries during World War I that left him with recurring partial paralysis; he died in 1938 following a stroke. Booth's mother, Lillian Alice, was also a Salvation Army officer, and the family relocated frequently in service of working-class communities, an upbringing that left a lasting impression on Booth. After his father's death, Lillian married Salvation Army Lieutenant-Colonel Cliff Barnes.

Booth attended Southend Grammar School, leaving at seventeen to enlist in the army, where he trained recruits in bayonet use and rose to the rank of Captain in tank transport. Following his military service, he spent several years employed by an international trading company before pursuing acting. He was accepted on scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he studied from 1954 to 1956 alongside Albert Finney, Peter O'Toole, Alan Bates, and Richard Harris. Early in his career he was advised to adopt a stage name, as "Geeves" too closely recalled P. G. Wodehouse's fictional character Jeeves.

His first professional stage appearance came with the Old Vic company in a 1956 production of Timon of Athens with Ralph Richardson. That same year he made his film debut in a small role in The Narrowing Circle, followed by a minor part in The Girl in the Picture in 1957. In 1958 he joined Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, appearing in The Hostage that year. His stage work with Littlewood extended to the 1960 musical Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be, in which he played the production's most prominent character and drew considerable attention. He returned to work with Littlewood in 1972 in another staging of The Hostage.

Producer Irving Allen signed Booth to an exclusive contract with Warwick Films, leading to a series of film roles beginning with Jazz Boat in 1960, directed by Ken Hughes. Hughes subsequently cast him in The Trials of Oscar Wilde and In the Nick, both also from 1960. When Warwick's financial difficulties brought the company to an end, Allen continued working with Booth on The Hellions, shot in South Africa in 1961. In 1962 Booth spent a season with the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing in King Lear alongside Paul Scofield under the direction of Peter Brook, and also performing in The Caretaker.

His first leading film role came in Sparrows Can't Sing in 1963, directed by Littlewood. Zulu followed in 1964, securing his place as a recognizable screen presence and leading to a contract with producer Joseph E. Levine. That same year he appeared in Herb Gardner's A Thousand Clowns in London and starred in the feature debut of Ken Russell, French Dressing. In 1965 he took the lead role of Robin Hood in the stage musical Twang!!, a production that encountered significant difficulties, including Littlewood's resignation as director, and was widely regarded as a failure. Booth later stated that the musical's collapse left him without work for a year. He continued in films through the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Robbery in 1967 alongside Zulu co-star Stanley Baker, The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom in 1968, and Adam's Woman in 1970. In 1970 he also appeared in The Alchemist at the Chichester Festival.

Booth appeared on Broadway in 1975 in a production of Travesties. He subsequently relocated to Hollywood, where he worked as a character actor in films including Airport '77, The Jazz Singer, and Zorro: The Gay Blade, and made guest appearances on television series such as Hart to Hart and The Fall Guy. When acting opportunities became scarce, he turned to screenwriting, earning his first writing credit on Sunburn in 1979. He subsequently wrote and acted in Pray for Death in 1985 and Avenging Force in 1986, and wrote American Ninja 2: The Confrontation and American Ninja 4: The Annihilation, appearing as an actor in the latter. In 1986 he played a pornography baron living in enforced exile in Spain in the second series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, and later appeared in episodes of Bergerac and Twin Peaks.

In later life Booth returned to Britain. He married Paula Delaney in 1960, and the couple had two sons and two daughters, living at various times in Buckinghamshire, Los Angeles, and Hadleigh, Essex, where Booth died on 11 August 2005 at the age of seventy-seven. His final film, Keeping Mum, released in 2005, was dedicated to his memory.