Kenneth Williams was an extrovert, a fast talker and always had something to say - he was witty, eloquent, and a fan of the double entendre.

He was a comic actor and his roles were closely associated with his natural comedy persona. Williams was a great storyteller and used his nasally voice in unique ways. He spoke with a very clipped upper-class English accent that occasionally dipped into London Cockney, and his speech was punctuated with a huge variety of camp or dramatic noises and vocal expressions that often led into characters and mimicry. His facial expressions and tone were haughty and arrogant. Flared nostrils and narrowed or bulging eyes complemented his often exaggerated speech to great comic effect.

He occasionally used polari which is a specific kind of slang as used historically by a mix of sub-cultures including London slang, Yiddish, and variations based on theatrical slang, and up until the late 1960s, was used within the gay community. To most it sounded like comical nonsense language, but it had meaning if you were 'in the know' and could interpret it.

Williams started as a stage performer, but soon moved into radio comedy, and became a household name after appearing in many variations of the 'Carry On' comedy film series that ran from 1958 to 1978. He often appeared in television programs and quiz shows (mostly as himself) and authored several books, including his diary collections and letters which were published posthumously.

His diaries chronicled his personal thoughts in an open and candid way and indicated there was a down and depressive side to his apparent extrovert personality. This seemed to become a problem to him in his personal day-to-day existence. He died in 1988 aged 62 after taking barbiturates (used extensively in the sixties and seventies as a kind of sedative). Cause of death was recorded as an open verdict.

There are no online resources or dedicated websites, but there are many films, radio shows, books, and interviews available both online and in print, and his comedy catch-phrases and one liners from the Carry On films are still quoted by many at the mention of his name - one of the most popular being "Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!", a line from Carry On Cleo (1964) in which Williams played Julius Caesar. He also often used "Stop messin' about" as his own catch-phrase.

By Matt Sheen October MMXX - See video playlist for references

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