Irregularly S
He is a stand-up comedian with an
anarchistic take on the world, who first came to the attention of the British
viewing public in a guest spot on The Young Ones. This led on to his
award-winning series, The Alexei Sayle Show. He has had limited success in
films, usually taking smaller roles and cameos. We see him enter the Carry
On arena in Columbus as Achmed, the useless assistant to Fatima
(Sara Crowe),
who has a spyhole into Christopher Columbus' map shop which is hidden in a belly
button.
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He is the famous veteran of American vaudeville, best known as Sergeant Bilko in the long-running The Phil Silvers Show and also for his role in the film version of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, the stage version of which has starred many a Carry Oner, like Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey and Frankie Howerd. He plays the wily, boastful in Follow That Camel when it became apparent that Sid James was unavailable. He takes the part and basically plays Sergeant Bilko but saying that, it fits into the film quite well. He was brought into the Carry Ons when Rank insisted that Peter Rogers should include a leading American comic to boost US sales. It was not a successful experiment and although, Silvers enters into the Carry On spirit on screen, he caused problems during production with his ‘star’ behaviour, and found it difficult to fit in to the tight discipline of the Carry On shooting schedule. The highest paid Carry On stars up until this point were Kenneth Williams and Sid James who were both on £5,000 a piece per film but Silvers got £30,000 for his role. |
| Tony Slattery, the regular from Whose Line Is It Anyway? plays Baba the Messenger in Columbus. He has also appeared on our screens in comedy shows like Just A Gigolo and has also delved into films appearing in Peter's Friends. |
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| Jack plays one of the raw recruits in Sergeant but is probably remembered more famously for the racist Eddie Booth in Love Thy Neighbour. Other parts he has played on TV are the son-in-law in For The Love Of Ada and one of Eddie Yates’ fellow bin-men in Coronation Street. |
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The glamourous star of German, Italian, French, American and British films, Elke Sommer is one of the few non-British actresses who have featured in the Carry Ons, never mind taking a leading role in one. As Professor Vrooshka, the Russian archaeologist, in Behind, she gives a spirited performance, her fractured English giving another dimension to the laughter lines. Film director Vittorio d’Sica introduced her to films when he saw her as the winner of a local beauty contest. She has worked in Europe and Hollywood and Deadlier Than The Male ranks amongst her British films. It was this film that brought her to the attention of the Carry On group, as it was produced by Betty Box, the wife of Carry On producer, Peter Rogers. She also appeared in A Shot In The Dark, the second of the Pink Panther films, with her husband Peter Sellers. |
