''I was delighted when offered a part in 'Carry On Abroad' and wondered where, in sunny Europe, we would be filming. Alas, the location turned out to be a car park at Pinewood!''
June Whitfield.
If there's any aspect of the Carry Ons that you'd like to open up to discussion then please use this post to reply to, to do this.
30 comments:
Is Kenneth Williams still alive? I haven't heard anything about him for years.
I have a distinct feeling that this could be a wind up! If the initials AW mean nothing to you then I assume that you have either been living in a bubble for the last 19 years or you are just extremely out of touch. Kenneth Williams died in 1988 from a drug overdose the official cause of death was 'misadventure', - although there has been speculation that he killed himself. He had been suffering for a long time with pain in his rectal area and the doctors he consulted could offer him only temporary respite. We'll never know for sure what happened, although the final words in his diary were ''what's the bloody point'' - draw your own conclusions.
Are you sure? I thought I saw him interviewed on Parkinson only a year or two ago.
I think you must have been watching a repeat of Parkinson the last time Kenny was on it was 3rd July 1992. The last time I saw him on televison was in Fantabulosa which was on BBC 4 (repeated on BBC 2) last year.
Cor Blimey!
You did not see Kenneth on Parkinson in 1992 (unless it was a repeat), and you did not see Kenneth in Fantabulosa last year - you saw an actor 'Michael Sheen' PLAYING the part of Kenneth. KENNETH WILIAMS DIED IN 1988!!! Give me strength :-)
I am the first anonymous, though I've given my blog name now to distinguish myself from the other anonymous. It can get a little confusing otherwise. I don't know what you mean about the initials AW. Do they refer to some relation of Kenneth Williams? I have copy of his autobiography (SIGNED!and in person at Hatchards; he was very sweet) and I can't see a mention of anyone with those initials in the index. I can't belive he's been dead all these years and I didn't know. Does anyone know where he is buried?
When I saw Fantabulosa I thought he was looking very good for his age. If it wasn't him but another actor then that would explain it. Is Michael Shean related to Kenneth in anyway? The resemblence was enough to make me think he might be his son. I know they have different surnames but either might be a stage name.
KW was cremated on 22nd April 1988 at St Marylebone Crematorium. His ashes were scattered in the memorial gardens there. Michael Sheen is unrelated to KW, he is simply a jobbing actor. He also appears as Tony Blair in 'The Queen', and manages a passing resemblance to our ex PM - he's obviously something of a chameleon. Even if he were related to KW he certainly wouldn't be his son as KW was of another sexual persuasion. He did however once ask Barbara Windsor to marry him (just for company) but when he informed her ''there'll be no sex mind'', she replied (and I quote) ''you can piss off then.''
Just because he was allegedly of "another sexual persuasion" (as you so coyly put it) it doesn't mean that he couldn't have had children. There are plenty of gay men who have had them. Anyway I think his supposed homosexuality is overstated and much of it was just a public act of his theatrical persona.
In the 1950s my mother worked in Forests a florist shop on St Martin's Lane during a period when Kenneth Williams was appearing at the Duke of York's Theatre. Mum often had orders (there was once one from Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh - after which mum would say that if there was a loony in that relationship as far as she was concerned it wasn't Vivian Leigh; though why she came to this conclusion she never fully explained)to take to the theatre. It was delivering to the stage-door that mum met Ken. He took a bit of a shine to her and subsequently whenever she delivered flowers if he was there she got waved up to his dressing-room. She said that he always had a girl with him and very rarely the same one. Throughout my childhood whenever Ken appeared on telly mum would say "if I had a shilling for each time that that man touched my bum we'd be eating jammy dodgers with our tea". This was the late 50s/early 60s when if we were lucky we'd have a couple of rich tea with our afternoon cuppa; jammy dodgers were regarded as the height of luxury and were seen only on high days and holidays. As far as mum was concerned it was only because she was married with a young child that stopped Ken from more serious advances. She always laughed at the idea that he was, and here I use her word so please don't take offence in these more aware days, a pansy.
Dear Pavement Artist,
Although your story made me chortle and was very eloquently put I must admit that I found it hard to believe. It is pretty well documented that KW was indeed a 'pansy' - if a somewhat repressed one. There really is no doubt as to this. Maybe KW had a gaggle of female admirers that he was too polite to tell to bog off :-) I know a certain 'pansy' who is not adverse to pinching ladies bottoms (just for a laugh/shock value.)
At last a serious topic! Lets stop this nonsence about whether or not Kenneth is alive (he's dead, dead, DEAD) or whether or not he was gay (he was gay, gay, GAY) and discuss jammy dodgers. I haven't had one for years, are they still available?
After writing my comments I was so taken with the memory of Jammy dodgers that I made a trip to Tesco in Lewisham to see if I could buy a packet. They didn't have any. There were two similar types of biscuit so the questions I have are: was jammy dodger the name of a particular type of biscuit or was it the trade name given by the manufacturer? If the latter are they still made? As this is a "Carry On..." related blog I guess I should relate it in someway. Were jammy dodgers served at tea-breaks on set during the shooting of any or all of the "Carry on" films?
Burton's make Jammy Dodgers and they are still available. I can't tell you if they were served to the Carry On team.
Thanks for the information, I shall seek them out. Apologies for incorrectly spelling Vivian with an "a" rather than an "e". These things are important, imagine the brouhaha if I'd spelt Kenneth with an "a" rather than an "e"!!!!!!! Also I'm the last anonymous, I'm not sure what happened to my name. I guess I must have left it off, how silly of me!!!!!!!!! What a carry on...!!!!!
Pavement Artist, what show was Kenneth in at The Duke of York's theatre in the 1950s? I can't find anything that suggests he ever acted there?
I'm not sure. I'd ask my mum but she passed away in 1987. Sorry.
My sister has several boxes of my mother's papers and she has gone through them for me. She came across a signed progamme for a show called "Pieces of Eight" that starred Kenneth at the Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue in 1959. Perhaps this was the show that I remember mum talking about. My sister also came across christmas cards dated from 1960 to 1973 all from Kenneth to my mum. Watch out ebay here they come...
What sort of greetings does Ken give your mother in the christmas cards? Keep me abreast of when or if you do put them on ebay as I'd love to have one.
I haven't seen them yet and I won't until I visit my sister in Glasgow at christmas. I was going a long the Marylebone Road on a bus towards Kings Cross on Saturday and I noticed there has been a lot of demolition work on Osnaburg Street. We know who once lived there now don't we?
Yes we do know who once lived there!!!! In fact I passing Osnaburgh Street a couple of months ago when the demolition was taking place. I stopped and asked one of the workmen if he knew what had happened to the blue plaque that was sited on Kenny's flat. I had visions of making away with it. But unfortunately my Polish (or was it Albanian?) wasn't good enough to make myself understood. I expect it's now serving as a pot stand in Warsaw (or Tirana)!!!!!!!!
I can't believe that any Albanian would defile a blue plaque dedicated to Kenneth Williams by standing a pot plant on it. After all as a nation they are famous for their adoration of Norman Wisdom. But as for the Poles...
I have just come across this very amusing blog, should I take it seriously? Pooley you say you know of a pansy who likes to pinch womens bums. Who is this person? We should be told. People like that need to be exposed. So expose!!!!!
Of course this is serious. I take my seriousness very seriously.
And so do I.
In that case i will too.
I went to a picnic on Sunday and there were jammy dodgers.
Why didn't you invite me?
This is funny. Please carry on.
I saw the repeat of Fantabulosa on BBC4 last night which reminded me of this discussion - blind O'Reilly was it really five years ago? Well I just wish to apologise to Pooley and say that I stand corrected and it wasn't Kenneth Williams but an actor pretending to be Kenneth Williams. Perhaps when I first saw the programme I was under the influence of a large sweet sherry. Mr Sheen did a very good impersonation of the beloved Kenny. My only complaint is how smutty the programme was.
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