When it came to conceiving of Sid and Tony's characters, I used a couple of people as influences to help with their personalities, all of them from the 1950's. When it came to deciding what type of nature Sid was going to be I thought of Colonel Tom Parker, who was the well-known manager of Elvis Presley for many years. Like Sid, "The Colonel" (as he liked to be called) was someone who did a lot to further his clients career but he could also be quite ruthless and made a lot of shady deals through ruthless tactics behind Elvis's back.
(Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis, 1955)
The characters names and parts of the personalities of Tony and Sid were developed when I thought about sitcom writer's Galton and Simpson (The people behind Steptoe and Son) and their long running 1950's-1960's TV and Radio show, Hancock's half hour. The main characters were portrayed by Tony Hancock and Sid James. (best remembered for the Carry On films) They used their own names but they were playing exaggerated caricatures of themselves for the most part. Tony's character on the show was a down on his luck comedian trying to hit the big time. This is similar to how my character is trying to get back his former fame except he has already achieved success in the past. Sid James's character was a close friend of Tony's who usually tried conning him with his money making schemes every week. This is not dissimilar to how my character of Sid is a close confident of Tony but he also is quite a shady person.
(Sid James and Tony Hancock, 1957)
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