Question: We have a video of a Disney film called "Pete's Dragon." Are you the Jim Dale playing Doc Terminus?

Jim:  You got it. In the film I was Doc Terminus, the one who wanted to chop up the dragon into a thousand bits, then sell every little piece as a souvenir. Why not? Dragons are a dime a dozen in Disney films.

Question: Mom says she saw you fall off a tightrope once in a Broadway musical. 

Jim:  Once?  I fell off it most nights, I hardly ever stayed on it!  
But your  Mom is right. It was a musical called "Barnum" about the life of P.T.Barnum who invented the circus, and I played the man himself. The tightrope was thirty eight feet long and  nine  feet off the ground.  I had to walk it with no pole or umbrella to help keep my balance, and sing a song at the same time. 
  
 
Don't try it, I still have the bruises!   

Question: My Dad is English and says he bought a record of yours when you were a pop singer. Is he kidding me?

Jim:  So it was him who bought it?  I've often wondered!
I didn't enjoy singing as much as acting though. I tried it for about three years. I had a great recording manager called George Martin. Later he became the genius responsible for all the hit records of the Beatles. I made about a dozen records with him, but I missed the laughter, so I gave up pop singing, and went back to performing comedy in the theater. 

(For more information on this period of Jim's life, click on to Recordings in Jim's Biography)

Question: When and what was your first big break into show business?

Jim:  I was seventeen. 
I auditioned as an impressionist, but tripped over the stage curtain as I was walking on stage and nearly broke my neck.  Afterwards they told me the impressions were terrible, but the fall was funny. If I could think up an act quickly, I could be in the show that night. So I took a couple of hours to developed a crazy comedy routine. I went on that night and the audience laughed. I then joined the show for two years as a tumbler. Every night my entrance onto the stage was down a fifteen foot staircase doing two and a half flying somersaults. Don't try that either, I still have those scars! 

   At seventeen

Question: Do audio tapes get reviewed like films and books.

Jim:  Certainly they do. More and more magazines are realizing the importance of audio books and are giving space for the critics. Some Harry Potter reviews I now pass on to you. Click on Audio Reviews at the bottom of this page.

Question: Did you do all your own stunts in the various films?

Jim:  Most of them. Here are a few below.

"Carry On, Follow That Camel"  

It's called "The quick camel dismount!" Don't try this either. 
Camel-bitten-bums take a long time to heal!

"Hot Lead-Cold Feet" 


Canoe sank going down Oregon rapids!  
I ended up as part of a log-jam-sandwich. 

             "Carry On Cowboy" 
  
The horses stopped - but I didn't!   Missed hitting the camera lens by one inch!

"Adolph Hitler-My Part In His Downfall"


A real Knock Out! 
I passed out - was counted out - then carried out. 
Man Mountain did the same thing again during Take 2 and 3.

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