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Ghost at the Sunderland Empire

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Anonymous

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Not sure whether to put this one into the Ghosts thread, but here it is anyway.

My home town is Sunderland in the North East of England. The theatre here, the Empire, was where the comedian Sid James died, on stage, on the 26th April 1976. Years later another late British comedian, Les Dawson, was playing at the Empire and saw something in his dressing room so distressing that he refused ever to set foot in the building again. I've been unable to turn up anything more about his experience and what he saw, but the rumour is that is was the ghost of Sid James.

All sounds rather vague, I know, but can anyone throw light upon this topic?

Many thanks.
 
Nope! But I just thought that this might be a good place to talk about that other well known Sunderland ghost - the cad lad of Hilton (the cold boy of Hilton). Apparently his master chopped his head off and kicked his body into the river. Since then the ghost has been seen walking the grounds of Hilton Castle saying; "I'm cad! I'm cad!" or ("I'm cold! I'm cold!").

Does anyone have any more details about this? Who was the lad? Who was the master? Are there historical references to either and was the case recorded as an actual murder?

Does anyone have details of actual sightings, or even better, has anyone ever seen the ghost themselves?
 
Maybe the best examination of the Cauld Lad, Sunderland's most famous ghost, appears in the superlative Albion: A Guide To Legendary Britain by Jennifer Westwood. Sadly, it is probably not a supernatural phenomenon but a legend based on a mix of a real crime - the manslaughter of Roger Skelton by Robert Hilton, Baron of Hilton, with a scythe on 6th September 1609 - and the various legends of hobs and brownies that predominate here in the North (i.e. from Yorkshire up). I might also suggest that it is not unlike the legend of the Shining Boy (who fell into a cauldron of lead at Corby Castle, I think).

Whenever my family drove past Hylton Castle, my parents would warn me to look out for the ghost standing in the window and, as I recall, some piece of masonry did make it look like a figure standing there.
 
Sunderland Empire

Has anybody else heard the story of the haunted dressing room at this theatre?

I was a student at Newcastle a while back and was always fascinated by the place. Although that had more to do with it being Sid James' last venue.
 
Hello bakerlamb, welcome to the board!
I've merged your query with the existing thread on the Sunderland Empire.

I believe that the theatre has only recently finished being refurbished, I wonder if that may have disturbed any resident spooks. It would also be interesting to see if there is anyone who could shed more light on the Les Dawson incident in the *haunted* dressing room.
 
"Such an old building is sure to have rumours of a ghost. According to some, Molly, an actress who mysteriously disappeared in the 1940's, is reputed to roam the dressing rooms. But no one today will admit to seeing her! Comedian Les Dawson, however, is said to have refused to ever make a return visit to the theatre after appearing in panto in1989. He is reported as having seen a strange vision in the dressing room. Not only Les but many others think that it is Sid James having the last laugh on the legend that many comics would die on the stage of Sunderland Empire."

found the above on http://www.rondrew.co.uk/theatre/Empire ... erland.htm

On http://www.carryonline.com/carry/sidtribute.html there is a very full account of his death including the name of the usherette: Irene Young. If I was properly researching this, I would probably ask the staff who worked there if they ever encountered anything?

I found lots of references to Les Dawson refusing to go there but not much else. Urban legend perhaps?
 
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