Biography

The acting bug bit Kenneth Williams when, as a student, his English teacher suggested he try out for a school play. He found that he enjoyed it tremendously, but when he raised the possibility at home of becoming an actor, his father forbade it. Williams was eventually sent to art school in London in 1941. In 1944 he was drafted into the army, and although posted to the Royal Engineers, he managed to land a job in the Combined Services Entertainment unit, where he got a chance to act in shows that were put on to entertain the troops, and even designed the posters that advertised the shows.

After his discharge from the army he began to work as a professional actor, and traveled the country in repertory companies. It was in a production of "Saint Joan", where he played the Dauphin, that a radio producer saw him and hired him to do voice characterizations on a popular radio comedy show, "Hancock's Half Hour". His penchant for wild, off-the-wall characters led to his being hired by the producers of the "Carry On" comedy series, where he performed in 26 entries in the long-running series. When the series ended, Williams returned to radio work, and also made the rounds of the TV talk shows in addition to writing several books, including his autobiography. Later in his life Williams developed a serious ulcer, and was given medication to combat the pain. On April 15th 1988, he was found dead in his bed; it was determined that in addition to his regular pain pills, he had apparently taken some sleeping pills the night before, and the combination of those and his regular medication proved fatal.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: frankfob2@yahoo.com

The British comic actor Kenneth Williams was born in 1926 in a working class section of London, England, where he and his older sister Pat were raised by their parents Louisa and Charlie, who ran a hairdressing shop. At the age of 14, Williams began training as a lithographic draftsman and was later apprenticed to a cartographer. At this time, he also began to pursue his interest in acting by joining an amateur drama group. While serving in the army during World War II, Williams worked as a Royal Engineer in the Survey Section and later became an entertainer for the troops in the Combined Services Entertainments. After his release from military service in 1948, he worked in repertory theater around Britain, eventually ending up in London theater. During the 1950s, he made his name in popular revues, such as 'Share My Lettuce', 'Pieces of Eight' and 'One Over the Eight'. He also appeared with Maggie Smith in 'The Private Eye/Public Ear', Edith Evans in 'Gentle Jack' and Ingrid Bergman in 'Captain Brassbound's Conversion'. He was a good friend of the playwright Joe Orton and performed in his 'Loot' in 1967. Williams became a household name in Britain through his numerous performances in radio and television, even having his own television series The Kenneth Williams Show (1970), for a short time. Known for his snooty characterizations, his chief claim to fame is his many appearances in the British "Carry On" films, an extensive series of low-budget but immensely popular comedy films produced from the late 1950s through the late 1970s.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Lyn Hammond

He discovered a love of music, history and poetry at an early age and made his acting debut in drag as Princess Angellica in a school production of 'The Rose and the Ring' After leaving school he joined Tavistock Repertory Company as an amateur actor until called up for army service in 1944 and eventually managed to get transferred to the Combined Services Entertainment unit in Singapore until his demob in 1948 when he then joined Newquay Repertory Theatre. He came to prominence as the Angel in the BBC tv production of H.G. Wells' 'The Wonderful Visit' in 1952 and in the same year played Slightly in 'Peter Pan' at the Scala Theatre and appeared in the Birmingham Repertory Theatre's production of 'Henry Vi' as Burgundy in part 1, Smith in part 2 and Rutland in part 3 In 1954 he played the Dauphin in George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan at the Arts Theatre and the St Martin's Theatre. Spotted by the BBC comedy producer Dennis Main Wilson he was cast as the resident character in 'Hancock's Half Hour' for 7 years playing various characters which brought about his life long catch phrase 'Stop Messin' About'. His film career started with his debut in 1952 as a gardener who finds a body in 'Trent's Last Case' followed by 'Innocents in Paris' (1953) in which he played an airport employee. A return to the stage found him playing Elijah in Orson Welles' 'Moby Dick' at the Duke of York's, Montgomery in 'The Buccaneer' at the Apollo, and the revue 'Share My Lettuce' with Maggie Smith in 1957. It was radio that made his name though when, in 1958, he joined Kenneth Horne's 'Beyond Our Ken' team. Pantomime saw him as the Ugly Sister Portia in 'Cinderella' at the Coliseum with Tommy Steele. In the early 60's he starred in the revues 'Pieces of Eight' and 'One Over the Eight'. In London's West End he played the detective in the hit double bill 'The Private Ear' and 'The Public Eye' at the Globe Theatre and later Inspector Truscott in 'Loot' which was written for him by Joe Orton. In the 1980's he directed productions of Joe Orton's 'Loot' and 'Entertainment Mr. Sloane'. For his last 20 years he was a regular player on the radio 4 panel game 'Just a Minute' and hosted 52 editions of 'International Cabaret'. His last stage role was as the undertaker in 'The Undertaking' at the Greenwich Theatre in 1979. He became a best selling author with two volumes of put downs - 'Acid Drops' and 'Back Drops' - and a children's story 'I Only Have To Close My Eyes'. On television he was a popular host of 'Jackanory'.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tonyman 5

Despite his Welsh ancestry Kenneth was born in the Caldonian Road area of London and brought up in Cromer Street, Kings Cross, He was evacuated during the war and went to Technical School to learn draughtsmanship, He did his national service in the army doing map reproduction during which time he entered army shows On completion of his national service he went back to a drawing office but couldn't settle, Having kept in touch with his army friends who included Stanley Baxter they encouraged him to go into the theatre which he did and made a big success eventually becoming a member of the Carry on team

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tonyman 5