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There’s an endless amount to pick through including his sexuality (and the inherent impact of that in the era he was living through), his sneering petulance and his relationship with his mother. As he tries his best to come to terms with his fame, his increasingly ailing Mother and his sexuality - the latter being illegal for most of this book - Williams life gathers a dark momentum until its tragic conclusion. BORN BRILLIANT was serialised as a Radio 4 Book of the Week, and shortlisted for a Sherry, the Sheridan Morley Theatre Biography Prize. However, Williams then blamed himself for being on death row in the first place, saying "Then I thought: Wasn't it my disregard for human life that got me in this situation to begin with?
BOADICEA sheds new light on a dark period in English history and PARDON ME, SIR FRANCIS is an eye witness account of the Spanish Armada.
In his descriptions of Tony Hancock, Maggie Smith, Joe Orton and countless others, his waspish sense of humour, love of anecdote and ear for dialogue are given full rein. The interaction of nature and nurture producing highs and lows in a life that resulted in something which might be diagnosed as the bi-polar and resulted in a saddening and tragic end. I did expect to read a lot about Barbara Windsor, his great friend from the Carry On films but there is little about her although actress Maggie Smith is talked about constantly, his admiration for her very evident.
A man who almost couldn't come to terms with the fact he was gay and every sexual encounter failed (he remained a virgin throughout his life) and unless he liked you, you were scathed in his book, at times it felt tedious to read all these negative comments.I humbly beg you your forgiveness, and pray you find the peace, healing, and closure, you all deserve.
He had worked with producers David Croft before on Hugh and I, and Jimmy Perry at the Watford Palace Theatre. Williams was convicted of the murder he committed shortly after escaping prison and was sentenced to death. His first film appearance was as an uncredited extra in The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan in 1953, his first larger role came in 1956 with the film The Extra Day in which he played the role of Sid. Paul Connelley helpfully points out in his comment on this post that Stevens does mention in a note at the back of the book, which I missed, that Howerd is in the film.A rare snapshoot of a man who didn't actually live through his times, but was an uneasy passenger throughout the the late 40's to his death in the late 80's. In response to the queries surrounding the execution of Williams and the three others before him, Hutchinson stated that he "absolutely made the right decision" to ensure the law run its course and fulfill the ends of justice. He is one of my favourites from Hancock's Half Hour, Carry Ons and other TV programs however, you really see a different person in these diaries. Right to the very end, Williams delivers an enthralling performance and his last act is most certainly a good and well received one.
The diaries record his opinions about others and many wondered what he had written about them in his "infamous" diaries. I grew bitter and angry; I was guilt-ridden, too ashamed to speak out, and so I suffered in silence and in loneliness, out of which came forth a vengeance and a vow: never again to be a victimized prey—to be the one on the offense, not the defense; to be the predator, not the prey.After learning that he had been spared execution, Williams taunted Hurd's family, saying "You thought I was going to die, didn't you? The diary contains genuine laugh-out-load moments, but occasionally he reveals outright bigotry and shocking racism. Inevitably, I am finding that it is the books that I really enjoyed which are the ones that I have better memories of. Kenneth Williams was an English comic actor and comedian, star of 26 Carry On films, numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.
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