Editing Alastair Sim (section)

==Personal life and honours==
Sim and his family guarded their privacy carefully. He seldom gave press interviews and refused to sign autographs. In his view, the public's interest in him should be solely confined to his stage or screen performances. In a rare interview with the magazine ''Focus on Film'' he said, "I stand or fall in my profession by the public's judgement of my performances. No amount of publicity can dampen a good one or gloss over a bad one."<ref>Interview, ''Focus on Film'', Summer 1972, p. 10</ref>

Sim and his wife Naomi promoted and encouraged young acting talent. Among their ''protégés'' was [[George Cole (actor)|George Cole]], who lived with them on and off from 1940, when he was 15 years old, until 1952, when he married and bought a house nearby. Cole appeared with Sim in eight films from ''[[Cottage to Let]]'' (1941), to ''[[Blue Murder at St Trinian's]]'' (1957).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120716031838/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2ba13a04ad "George Cole"], British Film Institute, retrieved 13 July 2014.</ref> An obituary of Naomi Sim noted in 1999: "Cole wasn't the only youngster to benefit from the Sims' generosity and love of youthful spirits. At least half a dozen others – 'our boys' as Naomi called them – mostly unhappy at home, have cherished memories of life at Forrigan, the welcoming woodland retreat built by the couple near Henley-on-Thames in 1947". They had a daughter, Merlith, who lives at Forrigan with her family. The actor George Cole lived next door to the family, remaining close to Naomi Sim to the end.

[[File:Alastair Sim memorial stone, Lothian Road - geograph.org.uk - 1615081.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|right|Memorial stone near Sim's birthplace, Lothian Road, Edinburgh]]
In 1948, Sim was elected [[Rector of the University of Edinburgh]]. He held the post until 1951; when he stood down he was made an [[Doctor of Law|honorary Doctor of Law]].<ref name=dnb/> He was appointed [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]] in 1953, and refused a [[knighthood]] in the early 1970s.<ref name=dnb/> An [[English Heritage]] [[Blue Plaque#English Heritage scheme|blue plaque]] was unveiled in July 2008 at his former home at 8 Frognal Gardens, [[Hampstead]], by his daughter Merlith McKendrick at a ceremony attended by George Cole.<ref>[http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:UKNB:EGLL&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=1221B276A81189B0&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=102CDD40F14C6BDA "People"], ''The Guardian'', 23 July 2008</ref> There is a plaque commemorating Sim's birth outside the [[Edinburgh Filmhouse|Filmhouse Cinema]] in [[A700 road|Lothian Road]], Edinburgh.<ref>[http://www.filmhousecinema.com/news/view/92/alastair-sims-birthplace-located/?from=all/14 "Alastair Sim's birthplace located"], Filmhouse Cinema, retrieved 12 July 2014</ref>

Sim died in 1976, aged 75, in London, from complications of [[lung cancer]]. His widow Naomi published a memoir, ''Dance and Skylark: Fifty Years with Alastair Sim'' in 1987.<ref name=dnb/> She died on 3 August 1999.