High Spirits [Hardcover]

Joan Sims (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Partridge (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852252804
• ISBN-13: 978-1852252809
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,100,388 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It should have been Dame Joan Sims!, September 21, 2008

By 

Sylviastel - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: High Spirits (Hardcover)

Joan Sims has not had an easy life according to her autobiography. She was a fighter who fought to get into the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic in London, England known as RADA. After she studied and trained, she starred on stage, television, and film.

She became one of England's most treasured comedic actresses but she was never given a proper British honor. She should have been made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire but that didn't happen alive. The BBC should introduce an award in her memory for actresses who have dedicated a lifetime of performing comedy.

Apart from her professional career which is best remembered by her final appearances on the popular "As Time Goes By" with Dame Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer OBE as fun-loving Madge Hardcastle but also for the Carry Ons which are still popular and needed more than ever.

Her personal life was not as successful as her professional life. She never married but lived with men and never had children. She battled her demons against alcoholism but she never lost her high spirits which this book is appropriately titled in her memory. Regardless that she was never given her British honor alive, she never dwelled or thought much about it.

But you knew that she was special when I first saw her on "As Time Goes By" with that infectious smile and hearty laugh. Apart from her television and film appearances, she has quite lengthy list of appearances on stage, television, and film. Still, I miss her after 7 years.