Joss
Whedon
This picture comes courtesy of
Kenneth Williams was one of the funniest
men ever to grace our screens. A perfect example of a temperamental artist, he
was a very complex individual indeed! There are many reports in his diaries and
letters of run-ins and fall-outs with other actors and comedians.
Kenneth Williams was one of the
major stars in the Carry On films. While some of the humour in the films may
seem a bit dated, Kenneth’s performances were superb. The famous scene where
Barbara Windsor’s bra came off and hit Kenneth Williams in the face wouldn’t
have been nearly as funny if it wasn’t for Kenneth William’s expression of pure
horror! As Shelia Hancock once said “Kenneth could take the most ordinary piece
of smut and turn it into something quite surreal.”
While he is best remembered for
his Carry On work, he has been in other great comedies as well, namely Round
The Horne and Hancock’s Half Hour. It was in Round The Horne where he and Hugh
Paddick played the classic camp comedy duo called Julian and Sandy. With
Kenneth Horne interacting with them as the straight man (no pun intended) the
comedy could be absolutely priceless. Kenneth Horne would say something cheeky
to them and Kenneth Williams would always say “Oooh! He’s bold!” My favourite
Julian and Sandy moment was when Kenneth Horne hired them to arrange a party
for him:
Sandy: We could always lay on a
turkey.
Kenneth Horne: Well I wasn’t
expecting a cabaret!
Kenneth Williams was also a great
story-teller. He relished tell jokes and relaying funny incidents (which he
often widely exaggerated).
Sadly Kenneth Williams died in
1988. It seems like it was caused by a drug overdose. It is widely believed
that the overdose was intentional as he was in a great deal of pain at the time
and seemed anxious about undergoing surgery.
