Carry On Blogging Interview: David Kernan

I'm delighted to bring another interview to Carry On Blogging. The actor and singer David Kernan was born in London in 1938. David has enjoyed a long, diverse and really successful career on television, film and particularly on stage and made his one and only Carry On appearance in probably the last classic film in the series, Carry On Abroad in 1972.  Co-starring alongside Carol Hawkins, Sally Geeson and John Clive, David played Nicholas. The film led to David developing firm friendships with the actresses Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques.

David's other films include Make Me A Person, Zulu, Otley and Up The Chastity Belt, while on television he became well known thanks to his association with That Was The Week That Was as well as parts in series like The Avengers and Upstairs, Downstairs. On stage, David has become most closely associated with the work of Stephen Sondheim, playing the role of Count Malcolm in the original London production of A Little Night Music. In 1977 David was nominated for a Tony Award for his part in the Broadway production of Side by Side by Sondheim.

I’d love to know what brought you into the business in the first place and how you got started?

After doing Huddersfield Rep at the age of 19, I auditioned for a part in "Where´s Charlie". I was in the chorus for two years and on the road to the start of my career.

I think you were part of the cast of the theatrical revue On The Brighter Side in 1961? That show featured some of my favourite actors – Stanley Baxter, Betty Marsden and Amanda Barrie. What were they like to work with?

Absolutely superb and extremely delightful. Especially Stanley Baxter who I still see from time to time.  

You were part of the extraordinary team of talent to work on That Was The Week That Was for David Frost in the early 1960s. What are your memories of that experience?

It was exhausting as we had to learn the songs within two days but at the same time hugely rewarding and great fun.

You played Private Frederick Hitch in the 1964 film Zulu, now revered as a classic. Was there any suggestion at the time that this might be the case?

No, I never thought it was ever going to be the classic that it has become.

In the theatre, you are probably most associated with the work of Stephen Sondheim. What is it that most attracts you to his work?

I loved the film West Side Story and auditioned for "A Little Night Music" for which I got the part. I then approached Mr Sondheim and asked his permission to compile his songs for Side By Side By Sondheim.

Two of the actors you worked most closely with in the revue you devised, Side by Side by Sondheim, were Millicent Martin and Julia McKenzie. Do you have fond memories of working with them on that project?

I suggested to Mr Sondheim that these two brilliant vocalists should be put together with us on the show. I have great fond memories of working with them and still stay in touch with Millie to this day.

You were cast as Nicholas in Carry On Abroad in 1972. What were Gerald Thomas and Peter Rogers like to work for?

Huge humour and great fun.

I’ve listened to the DVD commentary for Carry On Abroad and you seemed to get on really well your co-stars John Clive, Carol Hawkins and Sally Geeson. What were they like to work with?

Everybody on that film were such a pleasure to work with and John Clive (who played Robin) was great fun.

I think I’ve read that work on the Carry On film led to great friendships with Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques. What are your memories of these brilliant actresses?

I was so very fond of the pair of them. Over four years, Joan and I would spend Christmas Day at Hattie's house drinking and eating too much and of course lots of giggling. One year we decided to all dress up as the Andrews Sisters and have a sing song. Years later Julia, Millie and myself did the very same thing but this time it was recorded for a John Curry TV Special. It can be found on YouTube.

Finally, if you had to choose one highlight from your long career, what would it be and why?

I have so many highlights but being on stage on a Sunday night celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Side by Side and performing and singing along side Dame Judi Dench is certainly one of them. Stephen Sondheim even flew in from New York especially to see the show.

I'd like to thank David for taking the time to answer my questions. Thanks also to Rich Coghill for helping to set up the interview. 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Happy Birthday David Kernan!

Today we wish the actor and singer David Kernan a very happy 80th birthday. David, who has enjoyed a long career on stage, television and film, is best known to Carry On fans for his role as Nicholas, one of the holidaymakers to endure that dreadful package holiday to Elsbells in Carry On Abroad!

Speaking on the DVD audio commentary for that film back in 2002, David spoke fondly of his time with the Carry On team and clearly relished being reunited with co-stars Carol Hawkins, John Clive and Sally Geeson. David also formed lifelong friendships with Carry On legends Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques.

Away from the Carry Ons, David has spent decades working in musical theatre and is most often recognised for his work for Stephen Sondheim. On television David played roles in the likes of The Avengers and Upstairs, Downstairs. On film, Kernan made appearances in Zulu with Michael Caine and Stanley Baker, The Day of the Jackal and Up The Chastity Belt with Frankie Howerd.

David will also be appearing at the Classic TV and Sitcom Classics Day in Borehamwood on 7 July. You can find out more about that here

Whatever David is up to today, I hope he has an excellent birthday.


You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Carrying On at the Classic TV and Sitcom Classics Day!

Stars from two of my favourite Carry Ons will be attending a very special day celebrating the best of British comedy this July. The Classic TV and Sitcom Classics Day will take place at Borehamwood, Hertfordshire on 7 July. The day will be divided into two events with the morning and afternoon seeing a host of familiar faces attend a range of talks, question and answer sessions and signings.

Among the guests attending the daytime event is the actor and star of many musical theatre productions, David Kernan. David will be best known to Carry On fans for his supporting role as Nicholas, one of the holidaymakers in the classic Carry On from 1972, Carry On Abroad. David's characters joins the calamitous coach trip to Els Bells with his pal Robin (John Clive) before ditching him at the end for Lily (Sally Geeson). Sadly this was David's only Carry On, although he did reunited with John, Sally and Carol Hawkins for a fabulous DVD audio commentary back in 2002. During a long career, David has also appeared in That Was The Week That Was and Upstairs Downstairs on television and made film appearances in the likes of Zulu and Up The Chastity Belt. 

The daytime event runs from 9.30am until 4.30pm.

And then, from 7pm until 10, you can enjoy An Evening with Elke Sommer. Making a rare UK appearance, the German-born Hollywood legend will be in conversation about her long and diverse career in film, theatre and television. Elke famously joined the Carry On team for the 1975 film Carry On Behind, which saw her team up with the legendary Kenneth Williams.  Elke formed a long-lasting friendship with Carry On producer Peter Rogers and his wife Betty Box, appearing for Betty and her director Ralph Thomas in the films Deadlier Than The Male, Percy and Percy's Progress. Elke also worked for Ralph in the 1979 film A Nightingale  Sang in Berkeley Square.

Other films include A Shot in the Dark, with Peter Sellers; The Venetian Affair, Zeppelin, Lisa and The Devil and The Prisoner of Zenda. Resident in Los Angeles for many years now, this will mark a rare appearance in the UK so this event is not to be missed if you want to hear more from Elke on working with the likes of Kenneth Williams, Peter Sellers, Paul Newman and Oliver Reed!

Tickets can be purchased via Paypal (eventopsco@hotmail.com) - For Bank Transfers, do email or visit the Sitcom Delights Facebook page or over on Twitter @sitcomdelights. Further details can be found here 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Carry On ... Camping

This was perhaps a more serious blog than usual, however I think discussing camp comedy and the role of gay people in the Carry On series is really interesting. As with many aspects of the films, they often highlight what was happening in Britain at the time. They provide a fascinating time capsule...

The Carry On films are hardly subtle. They are chock full of stereotypes and outlandish performances. They represent a Britain that never existed, but we are alright with that because the actors involved were top class.

I've always thought the Carry Ons were camp. Pantomimes on the big screen full of big characters and comforting, familiar innuendos. Although many of the actors who appeared are gay icons, from Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey to Joan Sims, Barbara Windsor and Hattie Jacques, gay men and women were barely, if at all, referenced or represented in the films themselves.

The Carry Ons were made over a mammoth twenty year period which saw Britain change almost unrecognisably from a cosy but tough post-war nation to a country entering a new, more enlightened age. When Carry On Sergeant was released in 1958 homosexuality was still illegal in Britain. Hard to imagine now, given that gay marriage was made legal last year. It wasn't until 1967 that things began to change.

So life must have been difficult for actors like Williams and Hawtrey. While Hawtrey apparently embraced his sexuality with a notorious relish, Williams of course was uncomfortable with that aspect of his life right up until his death in the late 1980s. However while it is almost unbelievable to imagine that these actors were anything other than gay, on screen they were never openly homosexual. Both played outrageously camp characters throughout the series and while Hawtrey was normally the loner, playing away from the main team, it wasn't unusual for Williams to be partnered up with a glamour girl. In the early years that resulted in touching, tender scenes with the likes of Jill Ireland in Carry On Nurse, but later he was seen in unlikely couplings with Gail Grainger in Abroad and finally opposite Suzanne Danielle in several uncomfortable scenes in Emmannuelle. 

Both Williams and Hawtrey were the main proponents of camp in the Carry Ons, although they were joined in two films by legendary comedian Frankie Howerd. Again, Frankie was gay but neither of his Carry On roles exhibited any signs of this. In Doctor he had rude underpants, decorated with scantily clad ladies, removed by Matron Hattie Jacques. He was married to Joan Sims by the end of the film. In Up the Jungle two years later, Frankie once again flirted with Joan although his mannerisms and performance suggested otherwise!

Gay characters were seldom represented in the Carry Ons. I remember being fairly outraged by a dreadfully camp Jack Douglas in an episode of the television series Carry On Laughing in 1975. The first (and only) apparently openly gay couple to appear in the films were Robin and Nicholas in Carry On Abroad. These holidaymakers, played by John Clive and David Kernan, were practically bit parts in the films. While never referenced as a couple directly it is obvious to modern audiences that they were. 

John Clive played it extremely camp and effete while Kernan is much more manly, flirting with Sally Geeson's Lily immediately on meeting. Clive is then seen growing frustrated and playing away from the group in traditional Hawtrey style and of course, by the end of the film Nicholas gets together with Lily, leaving Robin alone and tipsy. Watching Carry On Abroad as a child, all this passed me by, but now as an adult it's quite awful! It is sending out a clear message as to what's right and normal, and what's not.

Apart from that, we have the gloriously awful Cecil Gaybody, brought painfully to life by Scottish comedian Jimmy Logan, in Carry On Girls. Logan was apparently mortified with this role which was clearly meant for Charles Hawtrey, who had by now left the film series. Gaybody ticks off every camp cliche in the book and it's a struggle to find anything complimentary to say about that character. I also remember a brief moment in Carry On Emmannuelle (which I've only watched all the way through once) in which an openly gay man walks past a guardsman on duty and tips him the wink. This moment comes after Suzanne Danielle's title character has exhausted herself trying to pull the guardsman. A pointless moment in a dreadful film.

The Carry On films are inseparable from camp comedy and gay culture. However while we still love them today, they very much illustrate the time in which they were written, made and released. Looking back on them now, they are all pretty harmless compared to some of the material we see today. 

Having said that, there are elements of some of these films which do leave a bitter taste in my mouth, none more so that the depiction of gay characters during a period in our history when the landscape was definitely changing. 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook

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Carry On ... Camping

The Carry On films are hardly subtle. They are chock full of stereotypes and outlandish performances. They represent a Britain that never existed, but we are alright with that because the actors involved were top class.

I've always thought the Carry Ons were camp. Pantomimes on the big screen full of big characters and comforting, familiar innuendos. Although many of the actors who appeared are gay icons, from Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey to Joan Sims, Barbara Windsor and Hattie Jacques, gay men and women were barely, if at all, referenced or represented in the films themselves.

The Carry Ons were made over a mammoth twenty year period which saw Britain change almost unrecognisably from a cosy but tough post-war nation to a country entering a new, more enlightened age. When Carry On Sergeant was released in 1958 homosexuality was still illegal in Britain. Hard to imagine now, given that gay marriage was made legal last year. It wasn't until 1967 that things began to change.

So life must have been difficult for actors like Williams and Hawtrey. While Hawtrey apparently embraced his sexuality with a notorious relish, Williams of course was uncomfortable with that aspect of his life right up until his death in the late 1980s. However while it is almost unbelievable to imagine that these actors were anything other than gay, on screen they were never openly homosexual. Both played outrageously camp characters throughout the series and while Hawtrey was normally the loner, playing away from the main team, it wasn't unusual for Williams to be partnered up with a glamour girl. In the early years that resulted in touching, tender scenes with the likes of Jill Ireland in Carry On Nurse, but later he was seen in unlikely couplings with Gail Grainger in Abroad and finally opposite Suzanne Danielle in several uncomfortable scenes in Emmannuelle. 

Both Williams and Hawtrey were the main proponents of camp in the Carry Ons, although they were joined in two films by legendary comedian Frankie Howerd. Again, Frankie was gay but neither of his Carry On roles exhibited any signs of this. In Doctor he had rude underpants, decorated with scantily clad ladies, removed by Matron Hattie Jacques. He was married to Joan Sims by the end of the film. In Up the Jungle two years later, Frankie once again flirted with Joan although his mannerisms and performance suggested otherwise!

Gay characters were seldom represented in the Carry Ons. I remember being fairly outraged by a dreadfully camp Jack Douglas in an episode of the television series Carry On Laughing in 1975. The first (and only) apparently openly gay couple to appear in the films were Robin and Nicholas in Carry On Abroad. These holidaymakers, played by John Clive and David Kernan, were practically bit parts in the films. While never referenced as a couple directly it is obvious to modern audiences that they were. 

John Clive played it extremely camp and effete while Kernan is much more manly, flirting with Sally Geeson's Lily immediately on meeting. Clive is then seen growing frustrated and playing away from the group in traditional Hawtrey style and of course, by the end of the film Nicholas gets together with Lily, leaving Robin alone and tipsy. Watching Carry On Abroad as a child, all this passed me by, but now as an adult it's quite awful! It is sending out a clear message as to what's right and normal, and what's not.

Apart from that, we have the gloriously awful Cecil Gaybody, brought painfully to life by Scottish comedian Jimmy Logan, in Carry On Girls. Logan was apparently mortified with this role which was clearly meant for Charles Hawtrey, who had by now left the film series. Gaybody ticks off every camp cliche in the book and it's a struggle to find anything complimentary to say about that character. I also remember a brief moment in Carry On Emmannuelle (which I've only watched all the way through once) in which an openly gay man walks past a guardsman on duty and tips him the wink. This moment comes after Suzanne Danielle's title character has exhausted herself trying to pull the guardsman. A pointless moment in a dreadful film.

The Carry On films are inseparable from camp comedy and gay culture. However while we still love them today, they very much illustrate the time in which they were written, made and released. Looking back on them now, they are all pretty harmless compared to some of the material we see today. 

Having said that, there are elements of some of these films which do leave a bitter taste in my mouth, none more so that the depiction of gay characters during a period in our history when the landscape was definitely changing. 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook

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Whatever Happened To ... Carol Hawkins?

So many of the actors who appeared in the Carry On films are well known to us. Their lives have been well documented both on screen and off. While we always love hearing about them, sometimes it can feel a bit repetitive or that we are collectively raking over old coals.

I want to start an occasional series of blog posts looking at some of the lesser known actors who appeared in Carry On films. Sometimes we will know a fair amount about them but for whatever reason they have not garnered much publicity. Others will be a complete mystery. 

So far I've written about Carry On supporting actors Gail Grainger, Marianne Stone and Esma Cannon. Very different supporting actresses, each providing something special in the films they popped up in. Today I want to talk about another glamorous actress who became a firm fan favourite, gracing two of the later and better Carry Ons of the 1970s: Carol Hawkins.

Carol Hawkins made her first appearance in the series with Carry On Abroad in 1972. Playing Marge, opposite Sally Geeson's Lily, she was a young 1970s woman off on holiday in search of a bit of fun. What she didn't bank on was finding it with Brother Bernard! Carol continued the long line of attractive young supporting actresses of the period, pretty much taking up where Jacki Piper had left off. It is a very assured performance opposite Carry On favourite Bernard Bresslaw.

It would be three more years before Carol returned to Carry On, but it was another belter, Carry On Behind in 1975. In Behind, Carol plays another young holidaymaker, Sandra opposite Sherrie Hewson as Carol. They are two good time girls who chance their arm and flirt round randy Major Leep (Kenneth Connor) to stay at his caravan site. Once settled, they spend the majority of the film leading fellow campers Windsor Davies and Jack Douglas a merry dance. It was good to see Carol back in the series as she was a natural for this kind of film. 1975 also saw Carol appear in two episodes of the patchy Carry On attempt at television, Carry On Laughing. She also made a blink and you'll miss it appearance in Carry On Again Christmas five years previously.

Sadly that was it for Carol and the Carry Ons. Apparently she was offered a role in the next film, Carry On England, but turned it down due to the nudity involved in the part. Fair play to her for that as England turned out to be a complete disaster! So what else did Carol Hawkins get up to in her acting career?

Carol Hawkins had her earliest success in 1971 when she joined the cast of the hit ITV sitcom, Please Sir! She took over the role of unruly school girl Sharon Eversleigh from Penny Spencer who had decided to leave the show. Carol played Sharon in the big screen spin off and then returned for the spin off TV series, The Fenn Street Gang, which was broadcast between 1971 and 1973. Other film appearances included another film for Rogers and Thomas, the big screen version of Bless This House, released in 1972. Carol played the daughter of Terry Scott and June Whitfield who marries Robin Askwith at the end of the film. Carol was also seen in Percy's Progress (1974), Confessions of A Pop Performer (1975) and Not, Now Comrade (1976). This last film was part of a long working relationship with the famous farceur Ray Cooney.

On television, Carol was a regular face throughout the 70s, 80s and 1990s. She appeared in the likes of Porridge (1975), And Mother Makes Five (1976), Robin's Nest (1978), Blake's Seven (1980), Rides (1993), Trial and Retribution (1998) and The Bill (1999). She also notched up several appearances in The Two Ronnies during the 1970s.

Carol's stage career was also very varied. She appeared regularly in Ray Cooney farces throughout her acting career. Carol also starred opposite Leslie Phillips and Julian Fellowes in Sextet (1977-78) and reunited with Carry On colleague Kenneth Williams in The Undertaking in 1980. Much of Carol's time working with Kenneth is documented in his famous diaries. She later appeared in See How They Run in 1984. 

So what happened to Carol Hawkins? Her last television credit was an episode of Doctors in 2004. She made her last stage appearance in the Ray Cooney play Caught in the Net, opposite Eric Sykes, in 2001. Carol also took part in a thoroughly entertaining DVD commentary for Carry On Abroad with Sally Geeson, David Kernan and John Clive, in 2002. Soon after this Carol seemed to vanish from the spotlight.

The internet has been my friend again. I have discovered that Carol actually has a website, although it looks like it is rarely updated. It would appear that Carol decided to retire from acting in 2005 and moved to Spain with her husband. She then devoted her life to animal welfare and spiritual matters. Sadly, Carol's husband Martyn passed away in 2013. As far as we know, Carol still resides in Spain to this day. Apparently she made a cameo appearance in Ray Cooney's film Run For Your Wife in 2012. I haven't seen it, but she is credited in the cast list along with many other veteran actors.

It would be great to hear from Carol Hawkins again, both about her time in the Carry Ons and other classic film, stage and television from that period. It's a shame she did not take part in the recent Carry On Forever documentary as it would have been terrific to see her reunited with her co-star and friend Sally Geeson. Carol has always spoken with great affection about her Carry On co-stars and I know she particularly admired Kenneth Williams. 

Carol's website can be viewed here and her list of acting credits here

You can read more on my verdict of Carry On Abroad here and Carry On Behind here, both films made it into my Top Ten favourite Carry On films.

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook

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Whatever Happened To....Gail Grainger?

So many of the actors who appeared in the Carry On films are well known to us. Their lives have been well documented both on screen and off. While we always love hearing about them, sometimes it can feel a bit repetitive or that we are collectively raking over old coals.

I want to start an occasional series of blog posts looking at some of the lesser known actors who appeared in Carry On films. Sometimes we will know a fair amount about them but for whatever reason they have not garnered much publicity. Others will be a complete mystery. 

I want to start off with one actress who is a legendary Carry On mystery and someone a lot of fans often ponder: Gail Grainger. 

Gail Grainger only appeared in one Carry On film, Carry On Abroad, which was made and released in 1972. Although only a supporting role, Miss Plunkett was quite a memorable one and a part that seemed to strike a chord with the audience. Gail played Moira Plunkett, assistant to Kenneth Williams, the WundaTours representative who accompanied a party of holidaymakers to the island of Elsbells for a long weekend they would never forget. During the course of the film, Miss Plunkett becomes romantically involved with Williams' character, Stuart Farquhar. "Miss Plunkett! You are squashing my itenary!" The old ones are the best.

I have no idea how Gail Grainger came to be cast in her solo Carry On appearance but I think she did a good job and wonder why she did not feature in any more films in the series. It feels like a role meant for Valerie Leon who perhaps was already committed to another project. Anyway, I liked Gail in the role. So what about other aspects of Miss Grainger's career?

Leslie Phillips' 2006 memoir references Gail Grainger several times. Not only did she appear in his short-lived BBC television series Casanova '73, she also joined the star in several theatrical tours, namely a stage version of The Avengers and a tour of the play The Man Most Likely To, both in the early 1970s. Infuriatingly, even though Leslie mentions Gail several times in his book, no further light is shed on her whereabouts or what she is up to today. 

Gail Grainger made several appearances on television and in film during the mid to late 1970s. She played George Carter's girlfriend in an episode of The Sweeney, played Leonard's estranged wife in an episode of Butterflies and turned up in the Diane Keen comedy series Rings On Their Fingers in 1980. However after 1980 she appears to have quit acting and retired from the spotlight. She has never made any appearances at Carry On functions or been interviewed about her time making Carry On Abroad. As she was born around 1950, we'd hope she would still be alive and well. 

The DVD audio commentary for Carry On Abroad was recorded in 2002 and featured Sally Geeson, Carol Hawkins, David Kernan and John Clive. During their lively conversation, Gail was mentioned with those taking part asking what might have happened to her. Sadly, nobody seems to know.

If anyone does know anything more about Gail Grainger, her career or what she might be up to these days, get in touch as I'd love to hear from you. 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook