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Kenneth Williams
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Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 25 April 1988) was a British comic actor, star of 26 Carry On films and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne, as well as being a witty raconteur.
eth Williams was born in 1926 in Bingfield Street, King's Cross, London. The son of barber Charles Williams, he was educated at Lyulph Stanley School. He adored his mother, Louisa ("Lou"), but hated his homophobic father.
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Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 25 April 1988) was a British comic actor, star of 26 Carry On films and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne, as well as being a witty raconteur.
Life and career
Kenneth Williams was born in 1926 in Bingfield Street, King's Cross, London. The son of barber Charles Williams, he was educated at Lyulph Stanley School. He adored his mother, Louisa ("Lou"), but hated his homophobic father. Williams became an apprentice draughtsman to a mapmaker and joined the army aged 18. He was part of the Royal Engineers survey section in Bombay when he first performed on stage, with Combined Services Entertainment along with Stanley Baxter and Peter Nichols.
Comic performer
After the war, his career began with roles in repertory theatre, but few serious parts suited his delivery. His failure to become a serious dramatic actor disappointed him, but potential as a comic performer gave him his break. He was spotted playing the Dauphin in George Bernard Shaw's St Joan in 1954 by the radio producer Dennis Main Wilson, who was casting Hancock's Half Hour, a radio series starring Tony Hancock. Williams went on to lend his distinctive vocal and comedic talents to the series until almost the end of its run, five years later. His nasal, whiny, camp-cockney inflections (epitomised in his "Stop messing about..." catchphrase) became hugely popular with the listening public and would endure in popular lore for many years.
When Hancock decided to move the show away from what he considered to be 'gimmicks' and silly voices, Williams found himself having less to do on the programme. Tiring of his increasingly reduced appearances, Williams joined Kenneth Horne in Beyond Our Ken (1958–1964), and its sequel, Round the Horne (1965–1968). In the latter, his roles included Rambling Syd Rumpo, the eccentric folk singer; Dr Chou En Ginsberg, MA (failed), Oriental criminal mastermind; J. Peasemold Gruntfuttock, professional telephone heavy breather and dirty old man; and Sandy of the camp couple, Julian and Sandy (Julian was played by Hugh Paddick), and the double-act was notable for their double entendres and homosexual slang known as Polari.
Williams appeared in West End revues including Share My Lettuce with Maggie Smith and written by Bamber Gascoigne, and Pieces of Eight with Fenella Fielding, which included material written by the then-student Peter Cook, including One Leg Too Few and Interesting Facts, that would both become well known routines in Cook's own stage performances. Williams' last revue was One over the Eight, with Sheila Hancock. Williams later starred opposite Jennie Linden in My Fat Friend in 1972. He also appeared with Ingrid Bergman in a stage production of George Bernard Shaw's Captain Brassbound's Conversion in 1971. Particularly in the theatre, Williams was famous for breaking character, ad-libbing and talking to the audience.
Carry On
Williams worked in television and British films, notably the Carry On series with its British double entendre-laced humour, which were highly successful but for which he, along with the rest of the cast, was poorly paid. In his diaries Williams claims he earned more in a British Gas commercial than the entire Carry On series — although that might only be true if one adds the fee he earned from the highly popular spin-off cartoon series Willo the Wisp (taken up by the BBC rather than the commercial TV network). Despite making a good living, he lived in small flats in north London, the best known location being the now demolished block on Osnaburgh Street.
Radio and television shows
He was a regular on the BBC radio panel game Just a Minute from its second season in 1968 until his death. He was a frequent contributor to BBC2's What's My Line? in the 1970s and presented several editions of the children's story-reading series Jackanory. He appeared on Michael Parkinson's interview programme on eight occasions. Williams was also one of the stand-in hosts on the Wogan talk show.
Personal life and death
On October 14, 1962 Kenneth's father, Charles, was rushed to hospital after drinking carbon tetrachloride which was stored in a bottle of cough mixture. Williams refused to visit him and on the following day went out for lunch then to the cinema. Charles died during the afternoon and an hour after being informed, Williams went on stage in the West End where he gave one of his better performances. The coroners court recorded a verdict of accidental death due to corrosive poisoning by carbon tetrachloride with no explanation of how the poison came to be in the bottle.
Several years later Williams turned down an offer of work with Orson Welles in America which would have been a major career move. According to his own account he had declined as he did not like America. However, the real reason was that he had been denied a visa because Scotland Yard considered him a suspect in his father's death.
Williams insisted he was celibate, and his diaries suggest this was — at least from his early 40s onwards — in part because he found his homosexuality difficult to deal with and the attendant lifestyle distasteful. He lived alone all his adult life and appears never to have had a steady companion or a romantic relationship of any great significance. His diaries contain many references to unconsummated or barely consummated dalliances, which he describes as "traditional matters" or "tradiola" (homosexuality was a criminal offence in the UK before 1967). He did, however, befriend the gay playwright Joe Orton (who wrote the role of Inspector Truscott in Loot (1966) for him) and enjoyed holidays with Orton and lover Kenneth Halliwell in Morocco. Other close friends included Stanley Baxter, Gordon Jackson and his wife Rona Anderson, Sheila Hancock, Maggie Smith and her playwright husband, Beverley Cross. By turns gregarious and reclusive, Williams was also fond of the company of fellow Carry On regulars Barbara Windsor, Kenneth Connor, Hattie Jacques, Joan Sims and Bernard Bresslaw.
Williams rarely revealed details of his private life, though he spoke to Owen Spencer-Thomas about his loneliness, despondency and underachievement in two half-hour documentary programmes entitled Carry On Kenneth on BBC Radio London. In later years his health declined, along with that of his elderly mother, and his depression deepened. He died on 15 April 1988 in Camden. The cause of death was an overdose of barbiturates. An inquest recorded an open verdict, as it was not possible to establish whether his death was suicide or accident.
In popular culture
The posthumous publication of his diaries and letters, edited by Russell Davies, caused controversy — particularly Williams' caustic remarks about fellow professionals — and revealed the bouts of despondency, often primed by feelings of isolation and underachievement, that marked his life. Williams wrote in his diaries from the age of 14 in 1940 right up until his death some 48 years later, although his earliest diary to survive into publication was the one for 1942 when he reached 16 years of age.
The flat Williams had lived in was bought by Rob Brydon and Julia Davis for the writing of their dark comedy series Human Remains. The building was demolished in May 2007 and according to the actor David Benson's Myspace blog, he and ex-Radio 1 DJ Wes Butters broke in to take photos prior to demolition.
In April 2007, Williams' line "Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!" (from Carry On Cleo) was voted the greatest one-liner in movie history by a thousand comedy writers, actors, impresarios and members of the public for the launch of Sky Movies Comedy Channel. The line was borrowed by scriptwriter Talbot Rothwell from Frank Muir and Dennis Norden, who had used it on their legendary radio show Take It From Here.
In April 2008, BBC Radio 4 broadcast the two-part documentary The Pain of Laughter: The Last Days of Kenneth Williams. The programmes were researched and written by Wes Butters and narrated by Rob Brydon. Butters purchased a collection of Williams' personal belongings from the actor's godson, Robert Chidell, to whom they had been bequeathed.
The first of the programmes claimed that, towards the end of his life and struggling with depression and ill health, Williams abandoned his Christian faith following discussions with the poet Philip Larkin. Williams had been a Methodist and took a keen interest in religion, though he spent much of his life struggling with Christianity's teachings on homosexuality.
Kenneth Williams Unseen by Wes Butters and Russell Davies, the first Williams biography in 15 years, was published in October 2008.
Portrayals
Williams has been portrayed in two separate made-for-television films. In 2000, Adam Godley played him in the story of Sid James and Barbara Windsor's love affair, Cor Blimey! (Godley had originated the role in the 1998 National Theatre play on which Cor Blimey! was based). Subsequently in 2006, Michael Sheen played him in the BBC Four drama Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!.
David Benson's 1996 Edinburgh Fringe show, Think No Evil of Us: My Life with Kenneth Williams saw Benson playing the character of Williams; after touring, the show ran in London's West End. Benson reprised his performance in a number of shows at the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe and continues to tour with this portrayal.
From 2003 to 2005, Robin Sebastian took on the Williams role in the hit West End stage show Round the Horne... Revisited, recreating his performance in 2008 for a new production called Round the Horne: Unseen and Uncut.
Performances
Films
Television
Radio
Books
- Acid Drops
- Back Drops
- Just Williams
- I Only Have To Close My Eyes
- The Kenneth Williams Diaries
- The Kenneth Williams Letters
Albums
- Kenneth Williams on Pleasure Bent 1967, Decca LK 4856. Arrangements and musical direction by Barry Booth, sound supervision by Roger Cameron.
- The World of Kenneth Williams 1970, Decca SPA 64. Stereo edition of recordings from the 1950s and 1960s.
See also
Footnotes
External links
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