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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Sally James (presenter)
Sally James (born Sally Cann, 10 May 1950) is a British television presenter. She presented the ITV Saturday morning children's show Tiswas from 1977 until it ended in 1982. James's role on the show included conducting the "Almost Legendary Pop Interviews", interviewing musical acts including Elvis Costello, Sting, The Clash, Motörhead, Iron Maiden and Kate Bush, and serving as music editor.

Before joining Tiswas, James was an actress, appearing in the films To Sir, with Love (1967), Journey to the Unknown (1969), The Railway Children (1970), and Never Too Young to Rock (1975). Her television roles included parts in Castle Haven (1969), Cousin Bette (1971), and The Black Arrow (1973–74). She was a presenter on Saturday Scene (later known as Supersonic Saturday Scene), starting in 1974, and interviewed pop stars in a segment of the show. James was a member of the Four Bucketeers group, whose single "Bucket Of Water Song" reached No. 26 in the UK Singles Chart in 1980. Her book Sally James' Almost Legendary Pop Interviews was published in 1981.

After Tiswas ended in 1982, James presented Ultra Quiz and Six Fifty-five Special, the latter being a nightly BBC Two programme co-presented by James with David Soul. She now runs a business selling school uniforms.

Early life and career

Sally James was born in Chiswick on 10 May 1950, the daughter of Olive and Bob Cann. Bob Cann was a photographer, who later worked as the official photographer for the films Dr. No and A Hard Day's Night. James attended the Arts Educational Schools. She appeared as one of Sidney Poitier's pupils in To Sir, with Love (1967), credited as Sally Cann, after her father, who was working on the film spoke to the director and got her the part. She subsequently used her father's middle name, James, in her stage name.

She appeared in Castle Haven (1969), a twice-weekly serial for Yorkshire Television, playing Jo Mercer, a woman newly married to a teacher. In the series, the couple are tenants of one of the flats in a pair of converted houses and are struggling financially. James Towler in 'The Stage reviewed the programme including the comment "more performances of the quality of Sally James would undoubtedly enhance the future of the series." She played the role of a "dolly bird" in the comedy Turnbull's Finest Half-Hour (1972), which was set in a fictional television station, and was one of the cast praised for their performances in Towler's review in The Stage.

Her television roles included parts in Sanctuary, Dixon of Dock Green, Curry & Chips, Journey to the Unknown, Cousin Bette, The Two Ronnies, and The Black Arrow. Film roles included The Railway Children (1970) as a maid, and in the glam rock film Never Too Young to Rock (1975).

Presenting career

James started her first presenting role in 1973, for Saturday Scene, during which she interviewed pop stars, including David Essex and The Bay City Rollers in a quarter-hour long section of the show. The show was later Supersonic Saturday Scene, and broadcast at different times in different ITV regions, including as a Saturday morning show in London. An album, Saturday Scene, that included both interviews and songs performed by James, was released in 1974. The review in The Stage called James "an ebullient personality in sound as well as vision", adding that "disc, screen or stage she's got the potential to adorn all of them." Paul Brookman of The Thanet Times thought that although the programme was popular, the album would have limited appeal as the interviews would soon be outdated, and "after hearing the album a few times it has nothing to offer."

In October 1976, the BBC started devoting a three-hour slot on BBC1 on Saturday mornings to a new show, Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, which The Stage noted put the new programme "in direct competition with ITV's Saturday Scene presented by Sally James." By July 1977, Multi-Coloured Swap Shop attracted six million weekly viewers nationally, whilst Saturday Scene, which was not broadcast across all ITV regions, had three million viewers in London. Meanwhile, ATV had produced the Saturday morning children's show Tiswas since 1974, which was shown only in the ATV region until also being screened in the ITV Wales & West from 1976. It was announced that James and Jim Davidson would be joining the show, alongside existing hosts Chris Tarrant and Trevor East, for the series starting on 10 September 1977, and that the programme would be broadcast in three additional ITV regions. The following year, Tiswas was reduced from three to two hours duration, with Tarrant becoming the producer, as well as being a main host beside James, and East taking a reduced role.

James's role on the show included conducting the "Almost Legendary Pop Interviews", interviewing many famous musical acts including Elvis Costello, Sting, The Clash, Motörhead, and The Pretenders. James remained as a presenter until the show ended in 1982. She was also music editor for the show. James was a member of the group the Four Bucketeers, alongside other Tiswas cast members Tarrant, John Gorman and Bob Carolgees. The group released the single "Bucket Of Water Song", which reached No. 26 in the UK Singles Chart in 1980 and undertook a national concert tour.

A collection of her interviews, titled Sally James Almost Legendary Pop Interviews, was published as a book in 1981. It included interviews with Kate Bush, Motörhead, Adam Ant, Bad Manners, Roger Daltrey and Kim Wilde among others. Several of the interviewee pictures used in the book were taken by her father, Bert Cann. Paul Taylor's Popular music since 1955 : a critical guide to the literature (1985) says that "The quality varies widely from serious dialogues to those in which the interviewer is not being taken at all seriously."

Marion McMullen of the Coventry Evening Telegraph wrote in 2003 that "Tiswas turned [James] into a cult favourite and 21 years later she is still remembered as the woman who first brought sex appeal to children's telly." A piece in The Times in 1998 said "Kids at home adored the chaos ... while their dads admired the denim-clad charms of Sally James."; for The Guardian in 2007, Bibi van der Zee commented that James "was openly touted as, er, getting dads up in the morning".

James was one of the presenters of the first series of TVS show Ultra Quiz (1983), alongside Michael Aspel and Jonathan King. The programme, a version of the Japanese game show Trans America Ultra Quiz, started with 2,000 contestants, who were reduced to a final pair, by eliminating participants who answered questions wrongly, taking place at a variety of locations. The winner's prize was £10,000, a large amount for a British quiz show at the time. TVS controller Michael Blakstad described the show as "quite awful," and it was revamped for the following season with a new presenting team.

In the 1984-85 pantomime season, James appeared in the title role in Aladdin at the Towngate Theatre, Poole, whilst pregnant. In The Stage, Stan Sowden wrote that James "establishe[d] a quick rapport with the audience, particularly the younger members." After a career break, James appeared on Back to the Drawing Board in 1986 and guested on Countdown for a week in 1987.

Later career

Some 25 years after Tiswas ended, James presented a reunion show Tiswas Reunited alongside Tarrant on ITV on 16 June 2007. Lasting 90 minutes, the show featured contributions from celebrities who enjoyed the show as children and appearances by people who had been on the show. In 2010 she had a programme on BBC WM.

James appeared on stage in Harpenden for Christmas 2013 as Fairy in the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk, around 30 years after her previous pantomime appearance. As of 2014 she was running a business selling school uniforms in Cobham, Surrey.

She is married to agent and entrepreneur Mike Smith. They have three sons, including Sky Sports presenter Adam Smith. She lives near Effingham, Surrey (as of 2016).

Filmography

Sally James filmography (TV roles unless stated otherwise)
Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)
1967 To Sir, with Love Schoolgirl film
1967 Z-Cars
1967 Mickey Dunne
1967 Sanctuary
1968 Half a Sixpence film
1968 Armchair Theatre Episode "The Three Wives of Felix Hull"
1968 Dixon of Dock Green Episode "The Hard Way"
1969 Curry and Chips secretary
1969 Castle Haven Jo Mercer TV series
1969 Journey to the Unknown Peggy Episode "The Last Visitor"
1969 Journey to the Unknown Peggy film
1970 The Railway Children Maid film
1970 The Wind Blew Her Away Joyce
1970 Menace Jane Episode "The Elimination"
1971 Death Sentence Jean
1971 Cousin Bette Marie Parts 2 to 5
1971 Father, Dear Father Felicity Episode An Affair to Forget
1972 The Two Ronnies on-screen participant
1972 Christmas Night with the Stars shop assistant (The Two Ronnies)
1972 Turnbull's Finest Half Hour dolly bird
1972 Harriet's Back in Town Eileen 2 episodes
1972 Crown Court - R.V.Bolton Miss Foster parts 1 to 3
1973 The Two Ronnies guest
1973 Sixes and Sevens Millie
1973 Trial Secretary
1973 The Two Ronnies' Old Fashioned Christmas Mystery cast member
1973 Go Warily Lenni
1973 A Funny Kind of Day Kate
1973–1974 The Black Arrow Megs 6 episodes
1973–1974 Saturday Scene presenter
1974 The Two Ronnies guest
1974 Rosie all the Way Millie
1974 London Bridge presenter (3 episodes)
1974 Lift Off with Ayshea guest
1975 Pop Quest on-screen participant
1975 Never Too Young to Rock film
1976 Supersonic (Saturday Scene Inserts 1977) cast member
1976–1977 Pop Quest presenter
1977 Sally James, Peter Gabriel, Mack and Katie Kissoon
1977–1982 Tiswas presenter
1980 Give Us a Clue on-screen participant
1981 The Children's Royal Variety Performance on-screen participant
1981–1984 Punchlines on-screen participant 9 episodes
1981 Blankety Blank on-screen participant
1981–1990 The Pyramid Game on-screen participant 3 episodes
1981 About Books presenter
1982 Square One on-screen participant (2 episodes)
1982–1983 Six Fifty-five Special presenter
1983 Show Business cast member
1983 Ultra Quiz presenter
1983 Show Business (Pilot) presenter
1984 On Safari on-screen participant
1986 Back to the Drawing Board presenter
1987 Countdown cast member
1990 You Bet! on-screen participant
1991 The Grand Final on-screen participant
1992 Video View on-screen participant
2000 Collectors' Lot presenter
2001 The Grimley Curse herself
2002 After They Were Famous on-screen participant
2004 Banzai on-screen participant
2007 Have I Been Here Before? on-screen participant
2007 TISWAS Reunited on-screen participant

Pantomime

Year Title Role Venue Ref
1975–76 Aladdin New Victoria Theatre, London
1983–84 Aladdin Aladdin Towngate Theatre, Poole
1985–86 Dick Whittington Dick Whittington Princes Hall, Aldershot
2013–14 Jack and the Beanstalk Fairy Harpenden Public Halls

Discography

Sally James discography
Year Title Format Notes Ref(s)
1974 "Isn't It Good" / "Wake Me When It's Over" Single Vocalist. Philips Records 6006 418
1976 "Copycat" / "(Help Me By) Loving Me Baby" Single Vocalist. DJM Records DJS 10721
1980 "The Bucket Of Water Song" Single Vocalist (as part of The Four Bucketeers) CBS: 8393

References

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  5. ^ Montgomery, Elizabeth (9 May 1987). "Your stars". Daily Mirror. p. 20.
  6. ^ Robertson, Peter (July 2019). "A proper Tiswas". Best of British. No. 276. London: Diamond Publishing. pp. 20–21.
  7. ^ "(Untitled picture caption)". The Stage. 10 April 1969. p. 10.
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  29. ^ Taylor, Paul (1985). Popular music since 1955 : a critical guide to the literature. London: Mansell. p. 24. ISBN 0720117275.
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  31. ^ Ian Michaels; King; Humphries, Patrick (7 February 1998). "Top 100 cult moments". The Times. p. Metro 24.
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  39. ^ "What's on Herts :: Jack and the Beanstalk – Harpenden's family panto". Whatsonherts.co.uk. 22 December 2013. Archived from the original on 11 January 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  40. ^ Young, Graham (24 January 2014). "Star of Tiswas mayhem is now a stickler for school rules". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 16 June 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  41. ^ "419 - SMITHY - Meeting Messi, Franky Fryer, & Diabetes Diagnosis". Spotify.
  42. ^ @SallyJamesTW (24 August 2022). "I could not be more proud of my son . This diagnosis is tough x he handles it brilliantly and to see how he helps others is incredible x" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  43. ^ Webber, Richard (21 August 2016). "Sally James: 'Brexit made us a split family – we voted leave, our sons voted to remain'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 16 June 2019.
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  52. ^ "Four Bucketeers". officialcharts.com. Archived from the original on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
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