Jim Dale MBE (born James Smith; 15 August 1935) is an English actor, composer, director, narrator, singer and songwriter who is best known for his roles in the Carry On films and as the narrator of the Harry Potter audio book series in the United States.
He was born in Rothwell, Northamptonshire and started training for his career at the age of nine. For six years he studied tap dancing, judo, National dancing, ballet and tumbling. During these years he performed in many amateur shows and started to include comedy in his act. At the age of seventeen he became the youngest professional comedian in Great Britain, touring all the famous Variety Music Halls. He joined the Royal Air Force at the age of eighteen and spent the next two years entertaining troops in England and Germany.
At the age of 22, he became the first recording artist under the wing of the now legendary Sir George Martin, who produced many hit records for him over the next two years, including Be My Girl (1957)(UK # 2in 1957), Just Born (1958), Crazy Dream (1958) and Sugartime (1958). He first appeared in, then hosted the top pop music show on BBC television, "6-5 Special." He was invited to join BBC radio as a disc jockey, and hosted their number one program for children, "Saturday Morning Children's Requests" for over a year.
Dale's film debut was in Break-In (1956), a War Office information film. He next appeared in Six Five Special (1958), a spin-off from the BBC TV series of the same name. This film was also released under the name Calling All Cats. He then had a tiny role in the comedy Raising the Wind (1961) as a trombone player who thwarts orchestral conductor Kenneth Williams.
However, he is best known in Britain for his appearances in eleven Carry On films, a long-running series of comedy farces, generally playing the hapless romantic lead. His Carry On career began in small roles: first as an expectant father in Carry On Cabby (1963), which was followed by Carry On Jack (1963). From Carry On Spying (1964) onwards, his roles were more substantial. Following Carry On Cleo (1964), his first principal role was Carry On Cowboy (1965).
Then came Carry On Screaming! (1966), Don't Lose Your Head (1966), Follow That Camel (1967), Carry On Doctor (1967), Carry On Again Doctor (1969) and the 1992 revival Carry On Columbus. Dale also played Harold, the policeman in the 1965 comedy film The Big Job with two of his regular Carry On co-stars, Sidney James and Joan Sims.
As a songwriter Dale is best remembered as the lyricist for the movie theme Georgy Girl, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1966. The song (performed by The Seekers) reached number 2 in the US charts the following year. He also wrote and recorded the song "Dick-a-Dum-Dum (King's Road)", which became a hit for Des O'Connor in 1969.
In 1970, at the request of Laurence Olivier, he joined The British National Theatre as a leading actor. At the Young Vic, he re-created the title role in "Scapino", which he co-adapted with Frank Dunlop, and played Petruchio in "The Taming of the Shrew". His other West End theatre credits include "The Burglar", "The Wayward Way", "The Card", "A Midsummer Nights Dream", "The Merchant of Venice", "A Winters' Tale", and most recently, the part of Fagin in Cameron Mackintosh’s "Oliver!" at the London Palladium.
In 1973 Jim made his Broadway debut in the smash hit, "Scapino" (Drama Desk Award/ Outer Critics Award / Tony nomination). Dale also played the lead in one or two more bitingly satirical film comedies such as Adolf Hitler - My Part in His Downfall (1972) and The National Health (1973). In America, there was a film or two for the Disney studio. Dale played Christopher Columbus when the Carry On series was revived during the 1990s with the dire Carry On Columbus (1992).
To millions of fans in the United States Jim Dale is the "voice" of Harry Potter (In Britain the audio books are produced by Bloomsbury, and Stephen Fry reads them.). He has recorded all seven books in the Harry Potter series, and as a narrator he has won the Grammy Award 2000, four Grammy Nominations and seven Audie Awards. Dale was awarded an MBE in 2003 for his work in promoting English children’s literature. He also holds two Guinness World Records: one for having created and recorded 134 different character voices for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and one for occupying the first six places in the Top Ten Audio Books of America 2005.
He wrote and appeared in his one-man show, Just Jim Dale, looking back over nearly sixty years in show business. It opened on 15 May 2014 at the Roundabout Theatre Company, winning Dale his fifth Outer Critics Circle Award, and his fifth Drama Desk Award.
(Edited from numerous sources mainly Wikipedia)