Kenneth Edward Williams, Jr., died Saturday, September 19, at home in McKeesport, PA. In 1944, he enrolled in the Army and was posted in Bombay as a part of the Royal Engineers survey section. The films were low-budget slapstick comedies with parodies and double-meaning dialogues, and enjoyed commercial success. His first big break was in 1950 when he was invited to join the highly talented Welsh Company at Swansea’s Grand Theatre. While awaiting surgery, Williams took an overdose of barbiturates and died in the early hours of 15 April 1988. © 2017-2020 Tribute Archive. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/kenneth-williams-4341.php. He could never come to terms with his homosexuality. Williams is remembered for his performances in the ‘Carry On’ series of films in which he was a regular actor for two decades. On his 88th birth anniversary, a blue plaque was unveiled at Flat 62, Farley Court, Marylebone Road, which was his residence between the years 1963 and 1970. It is still a mystery whether it was an accidental death or suicide. With radio shows such as ‘Hancock’s Half Hour’ and ‘Beyond Our Ken’, he became a household name. Kenneth Williams was an actor whose gregarious, quick-witted and hilarious persona made his career and fame while simultaneously curtailing his real ambitions for serious recognition. You are using an old version of Internet Explorer. From early 1986 he suffered severe health problems as a result of an ulcer and back pain; money too was a perennial concern. He also lent his voice to many characters on the Cartoon series, ‘Willo the Wisp’. When ‘Hancock's Half Hour’ changed its format, he found himself sidelined. His theatrical apprenticeship began during his national service and on demobilisation – after a brief period working at Stanford’s, the map-makers – he decided to pursue life as an actor, entering repertory work with serious ambitions. He began to appear on ‘Just a Minute’, a radio panel game on BBC, from 1968. All this, and the decline of his aged mother, sent him into a depression. His first stage appearance was with the Combined Services Entertainment. He aspired to be a serious actor who could do dramatic roles, but soon discovered he did not have the aptitude for it. All rights reserved. Ken was born in Mckeesport on October 3, 1942, the son of the late Kenneth Edward Williams Sr. and Eleanor Ungerman Williams. How I loathe them and Madame Tussaud.’. The one on Osnaburgh Street that he moved into on 3rd August 1972 and died in some time during the long, dark night of 14th April 1988. His popularity also owed to his appearances in West End revues. In 2009, a plaque to commemorate his life was unveiled at his father’s barber shop in Marchmont Street, London, where he resided between 1935 and 1956. Ken was a member of the McKeesport Heritage Center, American Legion Post #701, the Amvets Post #8, and Mary Mother of God parish. He appeared in many popular West End revues notably, ‘Share My Lettuce’, ‘Pieces of Eight’, and ‘One Over the Eight’. His Farley Court years also saw him develop his television career as the host of International Cabaret and appear in the first stage production of Joe Orton’s Loot in 1965. He was a graduate of McKeesport Sr. High School and served proudly in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. He was discovered dead due to an overdose of barbiturates. Plaque erected in 2014
https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/kenneth-williams-4341.php Kenneth Williams had an uneasy relation with his father, Charlie. He will be missed by extended family and friends. He served in the survey section of the British army during WWII. Born on 22 February 1926 in Islington, Williams was the only son of a hairdresser, Charlie, and his wife, Louie. Be the first to share your favorite memory, photo or story of Kenneth. The actor himself did not think much of them. In his diaries, Williams would almost invariably dismiss the scripts as rubbish but they provided the roles and one-liners for which he is most widely remembered. He lived in Flat 62 on the ninth and top floor of Farley Court, a 1929 apartment block located between Madame Tussauds and Baker Street station, between 1963 and 1970. In the 1968 film, ‘Carry on… up the Khyber’, considered the best of the Carry On franchise, he plays the villainous Khasi of Kalabar. He was a graduate of McKeesport Sr. High School and served proudly in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. After his association with the franchise ended, he switched to television. Kenneth Williams: secret loves behind the life of a tormented man . The British Comedy Society commissioned a plaque in 2010, which was unveiled in the lobby of the New Diorama Theatre, in the Regent’s Place by the Mayor of Camden. He also starred with Ingrid Bergman in a Bernard Shaw play, ‘Captain Brassbound's Conversion’. On television, he contributed regularly to ‘Whats My Line’, appeared on ‘Michel Parkinson’s Chat Show’ and ‘Wogan Talk Show’. Charlie died after consuming carbon tetrachloride stored in a cough mixture bottle. By the mid-1970s, Williams had developed a reputation as one of the ablest chat-show raconteurs and his repertoire also included after-dinner speaking, lucrative voiceovers for advertisements, television quizzes, and children’s shows, all of which he regarded as lightweight fodder. On what would have been his 88th birthday, 22 February 2014, Williams was commemorated with a blue plaque on the London apartment block where he lived during the heyday of the Carry On era. However, his quick wit and repartees made people laugh. See the events in life of Kenneth Williams in Chronological Order. In ‘Share My Lettuce’ written by Bamber Gascoigne and staged in 1957, he was cast alongside comedians Maggie Smith and Phillip Gilbert. F Most of his working life was spent as an employee of the State Stores of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, from which he was retired. After the war, he continued to act in repertory theatres and performed throughout the country. 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. Kenneth Charles Williams was born on February 22, 1926 to Louisa Morgan and Charles Williams, a barber. A BBC Four play, ‘Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!’ was televised in 2006. He used to be part of the Combined Services Entertainment group. On stage, in the early 1960s he appeared with Sheila Hancock in One Over the Eight by Peter Cook, and with Maggie Smith in the Peter Schaffer double-bill The Public Ear and The Public Eye. Keith Darnell Williams Sr., 53 Prince George’s County, June 4 . Published posthumously, his diaries revealed that he suffered from depression and loneliness as a result of professional failure and ill-health. Set in British India, his wisecracks teased the British stereotype. His final revue was, ‘One Over the Eight’ performed in 1960. The 1950s also saw him first appear in the Carry On series. Kenneth Williams was a popular British comedian who was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 Carry On films, and appeared in numerous TV shows and radio comedies He was interested in theatre as a boy, but was discouraged from pursuing it by his working class parents. Despite a reputation as a difficult colleague, he won the respect and admiration of many of his peers for his talents and the nation's affection for his ability to create laughter. Kenneth Williams was born 1926 in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, United Kingdom to Betsy Jane Williams (1903-1976) and died 1928 inWalton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, United Kingdom of unspecified causes. His amusing, nasal, high-pitched voice brought him recognition. He was 77. A biography ‘Born Brilliant: The Life of Kenneth Williams’ by Christopher Stevens was published two years later. There he was understudy to Richard Burton – who considered him an outstanding and versatile talent – and gave a notable performance as the Dauphin in George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan, a role he would reprise to great acclaim at the Arts Theatre, London. After service, he worked briefly in Washington, DC, and then was a bank employee in McKeesport. Who Is The Greatest Female Warrior In History? He attended Lyulph Stanley School and trained to be a mapmaker's draughtsman. Far more gratifying to him was his work directing Loot at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith and Entertaining Mr Sloane. While the revue ‘Pieces of Eight’ in 1959, had brilliant sketches by Peter Cook, it also brought out the best in Williams in pieces such as ‘Not an asp’ and ‘The last to go’. The family will hold private services. He became famous for his flaring nostrils and shrill voice. He played a variety of characters including the prudish, nasty, arrogant, and snobbish types. While living at Farley Court, Williams was a major contributor to the BBC radio comedy programme Round the Horne with Kenneth Horne, while in 1968 he first appeared as a panellist on the BBC radio panel game Just a Minute – he would continue to be an irrepressible star of the programme until his death in 1988.