Carrying On at the British Library: My thoughts on Kenneth's 1951 Diary

 

Yesterday I made a very special trip to the British Library in London. There was a great deal of publicity a year or so ago about the decision taken by Paul Richardson to entrust the treasured Kenneth Williams' diaries to the British Library. Paul, who was Kenneth's neighbour and friend for many of his later years, oversaw Kenneth's estate following his death in 1988. 

When I heard the news I immediately wanted to go and see these famous books for myself. As I wrote on this blog two years or so ago, my love for the diaries stretches back to my teenage years and I often dreamed of seeing the real thing. Now, thanks to Paul and the Library, it was perhaps more likely. Of course collating and cataloging the diaries is a huge undertaking for the Library and after a significant amount of time had passed, I contacted the Curator responsible for the diaries, Joanna Norledge. I think the process of preparing the diaries to be viewed by the public was taking longer than expected, however Joanna was particularly helpful and agreed that certain files could be made available to me if I applied for a Reader's Pass. And that's exactly what I did.

Late last week Joanna got in touch to confirm I could see the diaries in the Manuscript Reading Room at the British Library this week, so on Thursday I took the short trip from my home in North London down to King's Cross. I think it's really fitting that the diaries have found a permanent, lasting home here. The Library is an extremely well-respected, distinguished institution, one we should all be proud of. And secondly, the Library is situated in an area of London that meant a great deal to Kenneth, as he spent almost his entire life in Bloomsbury and St Pancras. Several of his flats are only a short walk away from the Library so it really does seem the best possible place for them.

 

After confirming my credentials as a legitimate researcher and receiving my Reader's Pass, I dropped off my personal effects in a locker and went up to the Manuscripts Room with my pads of paper and pencils (no pens allowed!) Sadly, but quite understandably, there's also a no photography rule so I'm afraid there aren't any pictures of my visit. The diaries had been ordered up and after receiving some specific instructions about what I could and could not do in the reading room, I was given the first file - Kenneth's 1951 Letts Pocket Diary - and allocated a table. 

The 1951 diary is very small indeed, quite different to the big A4 blue backed diaries Kenneth would move on to use in later life. The writing is beautiful, usually in blue ink, however the text is so small in this first diary that I had a headache from reading them after a couple of hours! It was all very much worth it though. I had to pinch myself as I held the very book Kenneth himself had used over sixty years ago to share his innermost thoughts about the day he'd just experienced. It felt very special and gave me a unique impression of a comic actor I've loved all my adult life. Kenneth had the most beautiful handwriting and his day to day script is lovely to read. However, as a trained draftsman and a lover of all the bits and pieces that come with putting pen to paper, he was also prone to experiment with different pens and styles of handwriting, some easier to understand than others! The only other issue I had in reading diaries was on the odd occasion Kenneth had returned to the diary at the end of a drink-filled evening! His handwriting becomes much larger, often sloping and sometimes even smudged! But I think we can forgive him that!

1951 was an important year for Kenneth. He was still very much finding his way in the world. At the age of 25, he was still living at home with his Mum Louie and his father, Charlie. The Williams family lived at 57 Marchmont Street in Bloomsbury, in the quarters above Charlie's barber's shop. Kenneth spent a lot of time socialising in his twenties and certainly seemed to engage with friends and acquaintances a great deal more than in his later years once fame had both given and taken away freedom. Close friends at the time included Rachel Roberts, Annette Kerr, John Hussey, Michael Harald, Susan Sylvester, Michael Hitchman and Peter Nichols. Although living in Scotland at the time, Kenneth was also still in regular contact with his old Combined Service Entertainments chum and lifelong friend Stanley Baxter.  

On the employment front, Kenneth was still signing up for various stints at Rep Companies all over England and was yet to become a star of the theatre or of film. There are periods of employment however the unemployed Kenneth Williams is frequently depressed, unhappy and toys with the possibility of giving up acting for another life somewhere else. '51 was a crucial year for Kenneth's career though as it was the first time he met a man who would carefully steer and support his career and elements of his life for the next twenty odd years: his agent Peter Eade. 

The diaries were always somewhere special and private for Kenneth, a place to share his innermost thoughts and feelings and to discuss the events of the day, much as you would with a partner. Even in these early years there are frequent references to "traditional" activity and of things, events, parties, people, being "gay". Whether that is gay in the sense of happy or fun, as the term was used during this period, or gay as in homosexual, well the jury is out. He also regularly describes people or performances as being "camp". And I think we all know what he means by that! 

I was interested to see just how much time he spent in the company of Welsh actress Rachel Roberts, herself a troubled soul, particularly later in life. Rachel was yet to become the famous actress we all remember today. She was a regular visitor to Marchmont Street for tea; the pair even attended the Equity Ball together, although Kenneth noted: "I like R. She's gay but the trouble is, we both talk at the same time." I can imagine that might infuriate Kenneth who always liked to hold court in a conversation! 

January also brought some rather fraught exchanges with Stanley Baxter, based in Scotland. They seemed to exchange letters regularly however the relationship was in rather a spiky phase as this entry on 8 January shows: "Terrible letter from Stanley. He imagines another personal affront. Replied advising him not to write again. More than I can stand I think." Later, on 11 January, Kenneth writes:  "No word from Stanley so it's obviously farewell to a dream which was gay while it lasted." I am not sure what the argument was about, or what exactly is meant by Kenneth's statement here, however all was resolved and the friendship continued on, as we know, for many more years.

Stanley reappeared in the August of 1951 when he visited London with his bride to be, Moira. The published diaries certainly give the impression that Kenneth did not have the same close relationship with Stanley's wife as he did with Gordon Jackson's wife, the actress Rona Anderson. They did socialise, particularly in the early years, but there is nowhere near the same level of affection towards Moira. They met up on 17 August: "Both just the same as ever. S being camper, if anything. They plan to marry in June. It's the most stupid sop to respectability and compromise to create a safe environment away from influences 'parent terrible'. He doesn't realise that in a matter of time a wife will be just as stifling - Trying to get the best of both worlds." The frosty atmosphere persisted when the threesome met again on 23 August: "Impossible to have conv. with Stanley with her (Moira) there." and "After tea at Swan and Edgar, he (Stanley) accused me of trying to 'break it up'!"

Many of Kenneth's diary entries must be taken with a pinch of salt. We all write things or say things in anger, the heat of the moment, as it were. I'm not sure how much of this tension is a result of Kenneth's jealousy that Stanley was settling down into married life and that, perhaps, Kenneth saw Moira as taking his place. Williams was prone to fits of pique and jealousy, particularly as a younger man. However the inter-relationship between Kenneth, Stanley and Moira is definitely a curious one. 

February saw the first appearance of Peter Eade, the man who would represent Kenneth until the spring of 1979. Peter would make regular appearances in the diaries over the years and the two men shared a very close friendship with Peter being fairly long suffering in dealing with Kenneth's moods and ways. Kenneth's first impressions of Eade were favourable: "Richard suggested I meet an agent - Peter Eade. Did so. He seems a delightful person." Eade, then a relatively new young agent would also go on to represent the likes of Ronnie Barker and Joan Sims, working in offices on Cork Street in Central London. 

The bond with Peter Eade developed quickly and Kenneth obviously trusted him completely within a very short space of time. By May, he was ringing Peter in the middle of the night when he was troubled with thoughts and feelings about his situation. He went to visit Peter the following day: "I told him about unsettled nature of my particular frustrations. EP (I believe this to be the actor Eric Portman, a friend of Eade's) was there. Traditional larks. Feel the complete 'naif' consequently nothing happens. Begin to feel that I am utterly without any kind of courage morally or physically." These thoughts and feelings would persist throughout Kenneth's adult life however it is interesting to see how much he relied on the calm, sympathetic Peter Eade, even at this early stage. 

One of the joys, for me, of Kenneth's diaries is his deliciously waspish humour. Unlike his later years, as he became more and more disenchanted with his fellow actors and the theatre, the fifties saw Kenneth attend many parties and see a great many films and plays. He gives very frank reviews of everything in the diary and pulls absolutely no punches! Take this entry from 18 March: "Terrible party at Bernadette Hunter's flat in Kensington! Awful people like Denis Shaw there. The end it was!" Very Kenneth I think you'll agree! Now Denis Shaw was a legendary actor and fixture in Soho at time, indeed he even made a brief cameo in Carry On Regardless with Victor Maddern and Kenneth Connor ten years later. I wondered if it was actually Bernard Hunter who was having the party - another well known actor at the time who went on to become a theatrical agent.

Kenneth's sister Pat also makes several appearances in the 1951 diary and this for me is another fascinating relationship. We know, in retrospect, that Pat was born illegitimately before Louie married Charlie Williams. She was three years older than Kenneth. This was never spoken about openly by Kenneth as far as I'm aware, although her arrival from Australia in March 1951 provokes a strong reaction from him: "I still feel lack of affinity here and sense of undercurrent embarrassment. Complete incompatibility. She's certainly bellicose and resentfully bitter." Later, on 2 April there was an intriguing and rather unpleasant argument at home. "Great row about legit. joke and awful truth comes out. Ridiculous to make such a thing about it. Just to be accepted. That's all." Interestingly, underneath this entry the names of those involved were added in pencil, obviously at a later date - (Pat Williams, Louie, Kenneth Charles).

Kenneth may have been only 25, but his wonderfully arch descriptive powers were in full flight even in '51. In May he was travelling to Guildford for preparations for work in rep when he recorded this entry about the standard of those on board: "Terrible people - the train to Guildford. Awful little men in striped trousers with fat, overstuffed briefcases as ugly as themselves. A Sleeping clergyman with several chins. THE END." Very Kenneth! 

At the end of the day, I emerged from the Library tired but satisfied and desperate for some fresh air. Not easily obtained at rush hour on the Euston Road. Before I headed for the tube I took a stroll down Judd Street, where Kenneth had lived for a couple of years in the early 1970s on to the address where all of the diary I had just read was written. I lingered for a moment under the blue plaque to Kenneth Williams on the wall of 57 Marchmont Street, remarkably unchanged since Kenneth last lived there in the mid-1950s. The shop below the living accommodation is still a hairdressers in 2018, although probably much too fancy for the likes of Charlie Williams. It was a wonderful, memorable day. My plan is to return to the Library several more times and blog my thoughts on the other years from the diaries available for me to read. It was an absolute pleasure to see them and get one step closer to the amazing man, the one and only Kenneth Williams. My grateful thanks to all at the British Library and to you for reading this blog.

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Stanley Baxter's Musical World on BBC Radio 2

With thanks to @FutureUrban on Twitter for alerting me to this one. I have always loved the comic actor Stanley Baxter and not just for his long friendship with one of my comedy heroes, Kenneth Williams. A hugely successful performer in his own right, Stanley has had a very long and diverse career on stage, television, film and radio. 

In the two part series, Stanley Baxter's Musical World, Paddy O'Connell meets Stanley, the renowned, award-winning Scottish actor and impressionist, known for his highly popular British television comedy shows.

Stanley shares a selection of his favourite music from across the years and around the world including Hollywood Classics, Broadway Blockbusters, Light Classical Favourites and Swinging Standards.

The programme was, I think, first broadcast last year. The first part is available to listen again here

I'm so pleased Stanley is still going strong at the grand old age of 91. As a fellow Scot I'll always love his work and as an extra aside, apparently Stanley was at the same school as my Gran during the war and used to be told off for impersonating the teachers! As with many very talented individuals, he was told he would never amount to anything...I wonder what happened there?

And if you are interested in reading more, here's my blog on Stanley's friendship with Kenneth Williams: Carry On Blogging: Kenneth and Stanley

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Classic Comedy on Talking Pictures TV this afternoon!

 

A quick note to remind you that Talking Pictures TV are showing two truly classic British comedy films from the glory days of British film making this very afternoon. If you are a fan of the likes of Leslie Phillips, Sid James or Bernard Bresslaw, read on...

The Fast Lady (1962) 2pm

Murdoch Troon (Stanley Baxter) is a dour Scot living and working for a local government authority somewhere in the south of London. A shy young man, his main excitement comes from cycling. After he's forced off the road by an impatient car driver, he tracks down the owner, only to find that he is Commander Chingford (James Robertson Justice), the domineering and acerbic owner of a sportscar distributorship.

This delightful comedy also stars Leslie Phillips and Julie Christie, in her second film appearance. Watch out for cameos from the likes of Eric Barker, Esma Cannon, Dick Emery and Deryck Guyler.

 

Too Many Crooks (1959) 4pm
 
A brilliant comedy film about a bunch of inept crooks who kidnap the wrong woman. It stars George Cole as the leader of the gang, Brenda de Banzie as the victim, and Terry-Thomas as her husband. The film co-stars two future Carry On greats in Sidney James and Bernard Bresslaw. Watch out also for appearances from Vera Day, Terry Scott and John Le Mesurier.

So sit back and enjoy this double bill of classic British comedy or if you get the chance, set the video to record!

You can watch Talking Pictures TV on: Virgin 445 / Freeview 81 / Sky Channel 343 / Freesat 306 / Youview 81

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Kenny at 90: Kenneth and Stanley

One of Kenneth Williams' most enduring friendships was with fellow comedy actor Stanley Baxter. Stanley is another one of my comedy heroes - I absolutely love his spectacular television specials from the 1970s and 1980s. His timing and sense of humour both superb. Also, as a fellow Scot, I am proud of what he has achieved in his life and career.

Kenneth and Stanley first met in the entertainments section of the army towards the end of the Second World War. Their friendship survived being demobbed and the severe post-war years which saw Kenneth in London and Stanley back in his native Scotland. They remained close and often corresponded, as the Kenneth Williams Letters show. It was Stanley who encouraged Kenneth to give up the day job and pursue a life on the stage, something we must always be grateful to Baxter for! 

The friendship was first troubled by Stanley's marriage to Moira. For some reason or other this temporarily put Kenneth's nose out of joint but eventually all was well and the friendship continued to blossom. However unlike many of Kenneth's other friendships with actors, there was always a competitive edge and a butting of heads between the pair. Indeed when Stanley once suggested they actually work together on a project, Williams recoiled in horror at the prospect.

As the years passed and Stanley's star grew, Kenneth was sometimes grudging in his praise for his talented friend. On may occasions he was fulsome and lavish in his compliments in public but licked his wounds in private. Perhaps because they were both quite similar people they could easily rub each other up the wrong way? Whatever the case, I adored their waspish meetings and jokes over dinner in familiar restaurants, always documented in the diaries. They were often joined by fellow Scot Gordon Jackson and the three men obviously really enjoyed their times together. Kenneth was very much closer to Gordon's wife Rona than to Moira Baxter. I'm not quite sure why but Moira doesn't feature often in the diaries.

In his later years in the 1980s, Stanley and Kenneth seemed to see less of each other. Despite this their friendship did endure for four decades and this in a profession not noted for longevity. I have rarely heard Stanley speak of his friendship with Kenneth but I am sure he, like so many others, was deeply saddened by Kenneth's passing in 1988. Stanley Baxter is thankfully, very much still with us today and is due to celebrate his 90th birthday in May 2016. 

As a brief aside, my grandmother remembers Stanley Baxter as a boy during their school days. Apparently he was always the class clown, mimicking figures of authority and making the rest of the class hoot with laughter. According to my grandmother, the schoolmaster told Baxter he would never amount to anything. How wrong he was!

Stanley and Kenneth had one of the most interesting, complicated friendships. It endured despite its ups and downs and I always looked forward to Baxter popping up in Kenneth's diaries. To finish, here is one of my favourite Stanley Baxter sketches, sending up the Glaswegian way of speaking. Parliamo Glasgow is just wonderful. 

If you want to read more about Stanley, there is a rare and interesting interview with him for The Scotsman newspaper, available here.

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Why I love The Kenneth Williams Diaries

I grew up reading Kenneth Williams' fantastic diaries. The diaries, edited by Russell Davies and first published in 1993, were a revelation when first made public and continue to entertain, provoke, shock and appeal to us all so many years after they were written. 

I remember very clearly when I first started reading them. I was 18 years old, off on holiday with my parents and picked up a copy at an airport book shop. I wasn't sure I wanted to read them as I was worried the true picture of Kenneth would be unpalatable and the diaries would debase one of my comedy heroes. I persevered though as they were Kenneth's own words, not those of a biographer who never knew him. 

So here are a few reasons why I love the diaries and why you should read them:

They offer a unique insight into the private life of a public figure
It's not often someone in the public eye reveals so much of their private life and private thoughts to us. Although committed to paper for his eyes only, in published form they give us a fully rounded portrait of a much loved man.

They were so well written
Kenneth Williams shows complete dedication to his diary and to writing. Although a published author by the early 1980s, the diaries are his main body of work and his legacy. Kenneth had a fierce intellect, was mainly self-taught and his command of the English language was legendary. In short, Kenneth wrote beautifully.

The extraordinary cast of characters
So many famous faces, both alive and dead, pass through the pages of Kenneth's diaries. Some were close friends - Maggie Smith, Gordon Jackson, Stanley Baxter, Barbara Windsor, Hattie Jacques, Sheila Hancock. Others merely acquaintances or colleagues - Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Dirk Bogarde, Alec Guinness, Billy Connolly, Ingrid Bergman, Edith Evans, Fenella Fielding and Noel Coward.  The diaries span a massive chunk of modern British culture and nearly anyone who is anyone features at some point. Not only do we hear stories about these icons in their prime, we also get Kenneth's unique take on them. Priceless.

What a Carry On
As Carry On fans, the diaries are a wonderful insight into the making of the films, the people involved and Kenneth's general hatred of the finished product! While many of his reactions or nasty asides are obviously committed to paper in the heat of the moment, they also provide a delightful sideways glance at life at Pinewood. From his adoration of Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor, Kenneth Connor and Bernard Bresslaw; his apparent love/hate relationship with Joan Sims and his unflattering portraits of Charles Hawtrey and Sid James, they are a joy to behold. I also love it when Kenneth compliments other performers. He wrote some very sweet things about the likes of Gail Grainger and Angela Douglas.

A love of London
Kenneth Williams was a Londoner through and through. Apart from evacuation to Oxfordshire during the war, he always lived within the same confines of the Kings Cross / Bloomsbury / Euston district. Despite his growing hatred at being a star without star money and being constantly recognised in the street, in shops or on the bus, Kenneth always loved his city. He writes beautifully about London, catching glimpses of the twinkling lights from up above at his Farley Court flat or describing long walks through the areas of the city he grew up in. I love it when I find myself in parts of London Kenneth knew well and remain the same today as they were when he was a Londoner.

A social history
Kenneth's diaries record so many major world events during their forty years. They begin in the middle of the Second World War and end at the height of Thatcherism and the rise of the Yuppie. They take in the Queen's coronation, the assassination of both John and Robert Kennedy, the height of the troubles in Northern Ireland, the legalisation of homosexuality in the United Kingdom, the Moon Landing in 1969, Watergate, the Aids epidemic and the Falklands War. They are a fantastic social history document and a time capsule.

Kenneth the man
Not often do we get such a unique and sustained portrait of an individual. From the youthful optimism and early faith in socialism to the wary, weary right wing man he became in maturity. We all change as we grow, develop and move through life, and Kenneth's diaries display this perfectly. While many of his attitudes changed and were informed by life experiences, I do believe Kenneth stayed true to himself until the very end.

Those final words
We all know Kenneth Williams died well before his time at the young age of 62. As the diaries progress, he becomes more and more disenchanted with life and more frequently suffers from pain and various ailments. The last few years of his life are, for the most part, a difficult read. When the end came, it left more questions and than answers, however his last words leave little to the imagination. While we mourn the loss of a comic genius and a true individual, Kenneth's story should make us all think.

I often wonder what Kenneth would have made of the reaction his diaries received on publication. He was quoted in interviews saying he wouldn't mind them being published once he had gone, so I can't imagine he would have reacted badly. Although The Kenneth Williams Letters were published in a collection the following year, the diaries definitely do leave you wanting more. The full transcripts remain locked away in a vault, with only the editor and Kenneth's trustees being fully aware of what was not chosen for public view. I'd love access to the rest of the diaries. Wishful thinking!

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Kenneth and Gordon

I've always loved that fine Scottish actor Gordon Jackson. He had a long acting career, beginning during the Second World War in 1942 and rising to prominence in the early 1970s through two stand out roles on television, as Mr Hudson in Upstairs Downstairs and later as George Cowley in The Professionals. While I admire Gordon's performances on screen, and his career is littered with classic films (The Great Escape, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and The Ipcress File to name only a few), I also found his long, close friendship with Kenneth Williams particularly fascinating.

Gordon Jackson was a quiet, unstarry member of the acting profession. In the days before social media and reality television, he just got on with doing his job and being a family man (he was married to the actress Rona Anderson for nearly 40 years and together they had two sons). However we do get glimpses of the man off stage through his regular appearances in Kenneth's wonderful diaries. Kenneth and Gordon were friends nearly all their adult lives. In a rare diversion for Kenneth, his friendship with Gordon matured and endured despite the various ups and downs of life. It was rare if not impossible to find any mention of Gordon Jackson that was not completely positive and in full admiration.

I must dispel the myth that Kenneth Williams had few friends and was a loner. He quite simply was not. Yes you can see from his diaries that he could be difficult, awkward or down right rude, but in essence he was a lovable, sentimental character who cherished long term friendships. Kenneth had well rounded, deep friendships with the likes of Maggie Smith, Richard Pearson, Stanley Baxter, Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor and Joan Sims for many years. 

While some friends came and went, Gordon and the rest of the Jackson family were constants. Kenneth, although undoubtedly a gay man, relished the so-called "straight domesticity" that regular trips to the Jackson household in Hampstead provided. Reading the diaries, as I often do, I can't help but smile when Kenneth records an enjoyable dinner party chez Jackson, an afternoon with their children or being included in a family Christmas. Although Kenneth suffered great pain and sadness at times in his life, it is heartening to see moments of relaxation and pleasure too. 

I remember clearly one of the very few times there were cross words between the pair. Jackson came across as someone who did his best to avoid conflict, however one family trip to Wales on which Kenneth was invited ended badly. Kenneth appeared to have rather old fashioned ideas, even back in 1966, and when Rona's culinary efforts did not meet with his satisfaction, a rather curt exchange resulted! This led Kenneth to leave early and unannounced and head back to London. Normal service was resumed, but it temporarily damaged their solid footing. 

Kenneth did clearly adore Gordon though as a trip to the theatre in 1982 definitely demonstrated. Kenneth was notorious for hating the theatre, particularly later on in life. He was known to walk out mid-performance if it was not to his liking. Patience often wore very thin indeed! However, in 1982 he sat through an entire Agatha Christie play at the Vaudeville Theatre (very close to me now as I write this) and as his diary records, he loathed it. He stayed until the end regardless, only because it starred Gordon Jackson, who's performance he still praised. That from Kenneth, is the ultimate sign of respect!

Gordon outlived Kenneth by only a couple of years. He, along with many other close friends spoke movingly at Williams' funeral in 1988. Sadly, by late 1989 Jackson has been diagnosed with advanced bone cancer. He passed away in early 1990 at the age of just 66. He worked right up until the end, his last performance screened posthumously. 

Kenneth clearly admired Gordon Jackson as an actor, but also more importantly as a man and a human being. I always think it's a touching friendship and a high point in the diaries. If you are unfamiliar with Gordon Jackson or his work, track some of it down and check it out. He was quite simply fantastic in everything he did.

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