Interview with Angela Douglas (2018)
Angela was born in Gerrads Cross, Buckinghamshire in 1940.
She started acting as a teenager, joining the Worthing, West Sussex repertory company, before making her West End theatre debut in 1958.
She is best remembered for her roles in the 'Carry On' films in the 1960s, starting with 'Carry On Cowboy' (1965), as an all-singing and trigger-happy version of 'Annie Oakley'. She then appeared in 'Carry On Screaming!' (1966), 'Follow That Camel' (1967) & finished with 'Carry On Up the Khyber' (1968).
On a wet & dreary morning in January I caught up with her to chat about her memories of her time working on the iconic series:
She started acting as a teenager, joining the Worthing, West Sussex repertory company, before making her West End theatre debut in 1958.
She is best remembered for her roles in the 'Carry On' films in the 1960s, starting with 'Carry On Cowboy' (1965), as an all-singing and trigger-happy version of 'Annie Oakley'. She then appeared in 'Carry On Screaming!' (1966), 'Follow That Camel' (1967) & finished with 'Carry On Up the Khyber' (1968).
On a wet & dreary morning in January I caught up with her to chat about her memories of her time working on the iconic series:
CP: Hi Angela, how have you been?
AD: I’m made up with cold so sorry for sniffing, I hope you can hear me ok!
CP: This year marks the 60th anniversary of ‘Carry On’, can you believe it?
AD: 60 years? so…it would have started in 1958? I didn’t come into them though, or had heard about them, until 1965 when I did ‘Cowboy’.
CP: So, prior to your involvement you hadn’t really heard about the series?
AD: No, not at all.
CP: You worked with some big names on them back then. Kenneth Williams, Harry H Corbett, Phil Silvers. What was Kenneth like?
AD: Outrageous. Funny. Very articulate and highly intelligent.
AD: I’m made up with cold so sorry for sniffing, I hope you can hear me ok!
CP: This year marks the 60th anniversary of ‘Carry On’, can you believe it?
AD: 60 years? so…it would have started in 1958? I didn’t come into them though, or had heard about them, until 1965 when I did ‘Cowboy’.
CP: So, prior to your involvement you hadn’t really heard about the series?
AD: No, not at all.
CP: You worked with some big names on them back then. Kenneth Williams, Harry H Corbett, Phil Silvers. What was Kenneth like?
AD: Outrageous. Funny. Very articulate and highly intelligent.
Above: Angela as 'Doris Mann' in 'Carry On Screaming!' (1966)
Above: Angela as 'Annie Oakley' in 'Carry On Cowboy' (1965) alongside Sid James in her first 'Carry On' role.
CP: What was it like working with Harry H on ‘Screaming’? He was quite obviously in the Sid James role?
AD: It didn’t really work really with Harry H. He was very pleasant, but he was the ‘new boy’.
CP: I understand that the part was written for Sid, but he was working on something else at the time?
AD: Well, there was a rumour that Sid was originally planned for the part, but he had asked for more money. He was the highest paid already.
CP: You actually appeared in some of the most popular in the series both with fans and the actors, ‘Khyber’, ‘Screaming’ & ‘Cowboy’?
AD: Well ‘Khyber’ was always voted the favourite wasn’t it?
CP: It was but ‘Screaming’ also comes very high on polls that have been carried out over the years.
AD: It didn’t really work really with Harry H. He was very pleasant, but he was the ‘new boy’.
CP: I understand that the part was written for Sid, but he was working on something else at the time?
AD: Well, there was a rumour that Sid was originally planned for the part, but he had asked for more money. He was the highest paid already.
CP: You actually appeared in some of the most popular in the series both with fans and the actors, ‘Khyber’, ‘Screaming’ & ‘Cowboy’?
AD: Well ‘Khyber’ was always voted the favourite wasn’t it?
CP: It was but ‘Screaming’ also comes very high on polls that have been carried out over the years.
AD: ‘Screaming’? Really?
CP: What was it like working with Phil Silvers on ‘Follow That Camel’?
AD: It was very much like Harry H Corbett, he was the new boy and it didn’t really work.
CP: I personally was not a fan of Phil Silvers, but I do like ‘Follow That Camel’.
AD: If you remember him in ‘Bilko’ & liked that you may have liked it. The first time that I was introduced to him on the set he was sat in front of a roaring fire with a big coat on and he said to me ‘Angela, have you ever been constipated?’. He was a very unhappy man by that stage. He was homesick, and his marriage was breaking up.
CP: We mentioned ‘Khyber’ earlier; that was your last ‘Carry On’. Why was that? Did you want to move on?
AD: No, it was because I was actually trying for a baby and my doctor and husband wanted me to take some time off and stay at home, so that was the reason really. I never went back to it after that. But then again, why did Juliette Mills stop? She is a wonderful actress but only did the one (Carry On Jack) which she was wonderful in.
CP: Good question, I suppose you could say the same for a lot of people associated with the series.
CP: We have heard year after year of a planned resurrection with some new ‘Carry On’s’ being planned, what are your thoughts on this proposal?
AD: Rumour, it has always been rumour. I think they would be daft to try though.
CP: In summary, what was your experience of your time on the ‘Carry On’s’?
AD: It was a very joyous and happy experience! The team were all so supportive to me. Peter Butterworth was a lovely man. I had a lovely friendship with him and I am still in touch with his son, Tyler. Joan Sims was a wonderful actress. A very sad and quite a lonely lady though. You should also speak with Anita Harris, lovely girl and Amanda Barrie.
CP: What was it like working with Phil Silvers on ‘Follow That Camel’?
AD: It was very much like Harry H Corbett, he was the new boy and it didn’t really work.
CP: I personally was not a fan of Phil Silvers, but I do like ‘Follow That Camel’.
AD: If you remember him in ‘Bilko’ & liked that you may have liked it. The first time that I was introduced to him on the set he was sat in front of a roaring fire with a big coat on and he said to me ‘Angela, have you ever been constipated?’. He was a very unhappy man by that stage. He was homesick, and his marriage was breaking up.
CP: We mentioned ‘Khyber’ earlier; that was your last ‘Carry On’. Why was that? Did you want to move on?
AD: No, it was because I was actually trying for a baby and my doctor and husband wanted me to take some time off and stay at home, so that was the reason really. I never went back to it after that. But then again, why did Juliette Mills stop? She is a wonderful actress but only did the one (Carry On Jack) which she was wonderful in.
CP: Good question, I suppose you could say the same for a lot of people associated with the series.
CP: We have heard year after year of a planned resurrection with some new ‘Carry On’s’ being planned, what are your thoughts on this proposal?
AD: Rumour, it has always been rumour. I think they would be daft to try though.
CP: In summary, what was your experience of your time on the ‘Carry On’s’?
AD: It was a very joyous and happy experience! The team were all so supportive to me. Peter Butterworth was a lovely man. I had a lovely friendship with him and I am still in touch with his son, Tyler. Joan Sims was a wonderful actress. A very sad and quite a lonely lady though. You should also speak with Anita Harris, lovely girl and Amanda Barrie.
Above (Top): Angela & I at the NEC in Birmingham in 2016. Above (Bottom): Angela adds her autograph to my 'Carry On Up The Khyber' DVD sleeve, alongside Peter Rogers, Wanda Ventham, Alexandra Dane, Harry Fielder & Dinny Powell.
CP: I understand that Amanda is currently in the ‘Big Brother’ house.
AD: Oh, is she? Oh heck.
CP: Not for you?
AD: No, although I would like to do the jungle! (I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here).
CP: Would you? (laughs)
AD: Oh yes, I’d do that.
CP: What are you working on at present?
AD: I am actually editing my latest book, so it is nice to be able to sit around in my pyjamas working, especially when it is cold and raining outside!
My thanks & gratitude to Angela Douglas for taking the time to share her memories & talking to me for this feature for the website.
AD: Oh, is she? Oh heck.
CP: Not for you?
AD: No, although I would like to do the jungle! (I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here).
CP: Would you? (laughs)
AD: Oh yes, I’d do that.
CP: What are you working on at present?
AD: I am actually editing my latest book, so it is nice to be able to sit around in my pyjamas working, especially when it is cold and raining outside!
My thanks & gratitude to Angela Douglas for taking the time to share her memories & talking to me for this feature for the website.
Some rare & unseen pictures of Angela from her time on the 'Carry On' films. Courtesy of Peter Rogers & Morris Bright MBE.
Above (left to right): On the set of 'Carry On Follow That Camel' (1967) alongside Kenneth Williams, Phil Silvers & Jim Dale; A portrait publicity shot from 'Carry On Screaming' (1966); Sheltering from a wet 'Khyber Pass' with Joan Sims in 'Carry On Up The Khyber' (1968).
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