Kenneth Williams

Biography: Kenneth Williams was born in London, England, in 1926. He and his older sister Pat were raised by their parents Louisa and Charlie, who ran a hairdressing shop. Although interested in acting, he was discouraged by his father from pursuing the profession and, at age 14, began training as a lithographic draftsman, later becoming an apprentice to a cartographer. Despite his father's disapproval, he pursued his interest in acting by joining an amateur drama group.

During World War II, Williams served in the army as a Royal Engineer in the Survey Section for a while but later transferred to the Combined Services Entertainments, where he acted, entertained, and even made posters. Here he met lifelong friends Peter Nichols and Stanley Baxter. After the war, he continued in acting, first in repertory theatre and later in the London theatre. His initial popularity came from his appearances in a number of stage revues during the 1950s, such as Share My Lettuce (with Maggie Smith),Kenneth Williams was born in London, England, in 1926. He and his older sister Pat were raised by their parents Louisa and Charlie, who ran a hairdressing shop. Although interested in acting, he was discouraged by his father from pursuing the profession and, at age 14, began training as a lithographic draftsman, later becoming an apprentice to a cartographer. Despite his father's disapproval, he pursued his interest in acting by joining an amateur drama group.

During World War II, Williams served in the army as a Royal Engineer in the Survey Section for a while but later transferred to the Combined Services Entertainments, where he acted, entertained, and even made posters. Here he met lifelong friends Peter Nichols and Stanley Baxter. After the war, he continued in acting, first in repertory theatre and later in the London theatre. His initial popularity came from his appearances in a number of stage revues during the 1950s, such as Share My Lettuce (with Maggie Smith), Pieces Of Eight (written by Peter Cook) and One Over The Eight (with Sheila Hancock).

Later, Williams became a household name in Britain through his numerous performances in radio- in Hancock's Half Hour, Beyond Our Ken and Round The Horne where he played a variety of different characters- and television, primarily on game shows, variety shows, and chat shows.
His chief claim to fame, however, is his many appearances in the immensely popular "Carry On" films, made from the late 1950s through the 1970s. He appeared in both the first- Carry On Sergeant (1958)- and the last- Carry On Emmannuelle (1978)-, of the series, not appearing in only four of the thirty films.

After this film series ended, Williams made no more films but continued in television and wrote a number of books until his death in 1988 at the age of 62 from an overdose of sleeping pills.… Expand