Doing justice to a king of UK comedy
The man in charge of bringing sponsors into Yorkshire Cricket Club is also now a published author. He spoke to Nick Ahad.
"Well, you know, some people like to dress up in women's clothes on a Wednesday night and I like to spend my time doing this," says James Hogg, when I first make contact to arrange a meeting. When we meet, I ask him to elaborate.
"I just meant that people do some funny things in their spare time," says Hogg, laughing. "While some people spend their spare time doing things like amateur dramatics, I spend mine doing this."
Hogg's hobby is researching a golden age of British comedy. By day he is the commercial manager at Yorkshire County Cricket Club, but in every spare moment, he lives and breathes British comedy.
"In particular, I'm fascinated by that time I think of as a golden era, the Fifties and Sixties," he says . "I really enjoy the whole aspect of the research process."
He decided to take his hobby a step further and set up a website called the British Comedy Helpdesk. People could log on to the site, post a question relating to British comedy from the 1930s to today and Hogg would answer the question.
Four years ago, he was asked a question about James Robertson Justice. He came up with nothing. "I obviously knew a bit about him and knew his work, but I wasn't that clued-up on him, so I started the research. Only I couldn't find anything."
James Robertson Justice is perhaps best remembered for his roles as Henry VIII in Disney movie The Sword and The Rose, Lord Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the role which defined his acting career, Sir Lancelot Spratt, which he first played in the 1954 film Doctor in the House.
He was, however, much more than his roles on screen, which is part of the reason why Hogg found it difficult to research the larger than life character initially.
"I couldn't understand it at first, but I slowly began to discover more and more about him and realised that he was in no way typical for an actor. He didn't really like other actors, he thought of himself as a natural scientist first and foremost," says Hogg.
Hogg set up a website dedicated to Justice and more information about the actor began to trickle in.
It turns out that film actor was the least of Justice's achievements. He was a journalist, a racing driver and a professional ice hockey player. He taught Prince Charles falconry, was a long-time friend to Prince Philip and he fought in the Spanish Civil War. He was a dedicated naturalist, a founder member of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and he was twice elected Rector of Edinburgh University.
Through a friend, Hogg was put in touch with a Sheffield-based publisher and was told that he had the makings of a very good book on his hands.
He began to collate his work and write a biography.
Once he had finished his first draft, the publishers put Hogg in touch with writer Robert Sellars. "Part of the problem was knowing what to keep in and what to leave out. The things he did and achieved through his life and his different careers were quite incredible," says Hogg.
The book, James Robertson Justice, What's the Bleeding Time? takes its title from a quote from the first Doctor film. Hogg travelled around the country meeting friends and colleagues of Justice, each sharing a happy memory. Or most of them did.
"I wrote to Donald Sinden, who had acted with James, and one night he called me on the phone. He told me that he couldn't stand James. But I suppose the feeling would have been mutual, seeing as James really couldn't stand the whole world of the 'actor'."
One famous name who contacted Hogg and had plenty of good things to say was the Duke of Edinburgh.
Hogg knew of their long-term friendship and wrote to Prince Phillip to ask if he would like to contribute to the book. He wrote in the foreword: "James was a large man, with a personality to match. His extraordinary life has been crying out for a biographer. I advise readers to be prepared to be surprised."
James Robertson Justice, What's the Bleeding Time? is published by Tomahawk, priced 12.99.
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Tuesday 22 May 2012
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