Sondra James (July 21, 1939 – September 12, 2021) was an American sound coordinator and actress.

Early life

Sondra James was born Sondra Weil on July 21, 1939, in the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally ...

, New York City. She graduated from the

Bronx High School of Science The Bronx High School of Science, commonly called Bronx Science, is a public specialized high school in The Bronx in New York City. It is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Admission to Bronx Science involves passing the Sp ...

in 1955 before taking a double major in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

and

archeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

Career

James began work as an actor, first starring in '' Mighty Aphrodite'' in 1995. Following this, she consistently worked as a

character actor A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to ...

and

voice actress Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talen ...

across film, television, and stage, including the national tour of '' Funny Girl'' in 1996. In the 1990s, she founded the loop recording company Speakeasy, which provides audio recording for film and television. Within Speakeasy, James took on various sound department roles, including loop coordinator, voice casting, and ADR casting. She was often involved with casting

Coen brothers Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) and Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957),State of Minnesota. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002''. Minnesota Department of Health. collectively known as the Coen brothers (), are American film ...

films. As of 2021, the company has provided audio for over 500 films and television shows. James also provided additional voices for several of the productions the company looped. While James and Speakeasy were successful in the 1990s, she was often upset that she struggled to find acting jobs. James played the main role of Auntie Norma in

Karl Pilkington Karl Pilkington (born 23 September 1972) is an English presenter, comedian, actor, voice-artist, producer and author. After working with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as producer on their XFM radio show, Pilkington became a co-host of '' ...

's British comedy '' Sick of It''; the production decided to use an American actress because there were limited elderly British actors, and these would all be recognizable to a British audience, which Pilkington felt would be distracting. He was shown a picture of James and immediately liked the look of her, knowing he didn't want the character to appear mundane. In 2020, she was one of the group of actors who brought a class-action lawsuit against

SAG-AFTRA The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA, stylized as SAG·AFTRA ) is an American labor union representing approximately 160,000 film and television actors, journalists, radio personalities, recor ...

Health Fund for imposing penalties on performers over 65 in a health plan restructure supposedly helping cover

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

Personal life

James had two sons, Michael and Marc. She had five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren at the time of her death. She was a fan of the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

Death

James died at her home in New York City on September 12, 2021, aged 82, from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

, which had been diagnosed five months earlier.

Filmography

Film

''Sourced to BFI and

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program TV listings, listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine, TV Guide Mag ...

unless noted''

Television

''Sourced to Deadline and TV Guide unless noted''

Commercials

Video games

''Sourced to Anime News Network unless noted''

Stage

''Sourced to

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

unless noted''

As sound department

Film

''Sourced to BFI unless noted''

Television

''Sourced to Deadline unless noted''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Sondra 1939 births 2021 deaths Actresses from New York City The Bronx High School of Science alumni Businesspeople from New York City City College of New York alumni People from the Lower East Side 21st-century American women Jewish American actresses New York (state) Democrats American stage actresses American film actresses American television actresses American voice actresses