Early Life
Alastair Sim was born in Edinburgh in 1900. His mother had been born on the island of Eigg, and when she came to the mainland in her teens she could speak only Gaelic. His father, Alexander Sim, was a prosperous businessman with property in Braemar and Edinburgh. He designed and paid for the construction of the Earl Haig Gardens in Edinburgh for the use of returning servicemen to sit in during the day.
Alastair Sim was educated at the independent George Heriot's School in Edinburgh. He became an elocution and drama lecturer at the University of Edinburgh from 1925 until 1930, where he was later rector from 1948 until 1951. He once remarked to an interviewer, "As I passed imperceptibly from a beautiful child to a strong and handsome lad, I wanted more than anything else in the world to be, of all things, a hypnotist. I practised on gentle dogs."
His biography states that as a young man, he was employed for a while as a lumberjack. Colleagues found him lacking enthusiasm for the work, and after a bad experience with whisky he never drank it again.
Read more about this topic: Alastair Sim
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“Parents ... are sometimes a bit of a disappointment to their children. They don’t fulfil the promise of their early years.”
—Anthony Powell (b. 1905)
“Glorious bouquets and storms of applause ... are the trimmings which every artist naturally enjoys. But to move an audience in such a role, to hear in the applause that unmistakable note which breaks through good theatre manners and comes from the heart, is to feel that you have won through to life itself. Such pleasure does not vanish with the fall of the curtain, but becomes part of one’s own life.”
—Dame Alice Markova (b. 1910)