'Kenneth Williams and His Diaries' British Library June 2016

AUDIO ONLY. Sorry there are no images from the evening.
In December 2015 the British Library acquired the complete Kenneth Williams diaries plus letters and other papers.
In this special event, actor David Benson, known for his solo play 'Think No Evil of Us: My Life With Kenneth Williams' reads extracts from unpublished sections of the diaries, selected by Kathryn Johnson, at that time the curator of the collection. Here she describes the task of reading the complete diaries and subjecting them to rigorous 'data protection' processing.
The legendary Nicholas Parson makes memorable contributions, remembering the recordings of Just A Minute; and Peter Cadley, a close friend of Kenneth in his later years, shares personal reminiscences.
Huge apologies of the lack of visuals - I hope that the verbal description of the images displayed will suffice until a fuller version of this video can be produced with the imagery included.
Guardian article on the BL's acquisition of the diaries:
www.theguardia...
From the British Library website
www.bl.uk/even...

[@amandabutterfield-maciazek7987]

Saw Kenneth Williams in a park when i was a child wandering around looking at a statue.He was in a play and incidentally the theatre was opposite the park.I will treasure that memory forever..😢❤

[@1963gecko]

Fantastic!

[@thomasclark362]

I so wish I had of been there. What a legend he was.

[@analogueman123456787]

Don't feel like you need to apologise for a lack of any visuals old chap. I, for one, am simply grateful you've taken the trouble to upload the audio. Thank you.

[@leosmoonfish2849]

Decided a long time ago that Kenny’s diaries would be my chosen book for the desert island . I’ve continue to read from them for over twenty years and still find them fascinating .

[@ianrichardson8990]

Thank-you, David. Wonderful and fascinating. I was lucky enough to see Kenneth when he came to my school in 1980. One of my treasured memories. Also the first time I remember hearing anyone use the word dogma. ☺

[@charlesdavis7087]

Love this. Would have loved it even more if it had been filmed. Thanks to all concerned.

[@Sameoldfitup]

“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?”― Tennessee Williams.............

[@Randy_Batswinger]

This is such a treat! Thanks, David.

[@darktimer]

Many thanks for putting this on KZbin - wonderful insights into a very complex character.

[@TheChrisrg]

I saw David Benson do his one man show years ago in Manchester. Fantastic stuff. Currently re reading KW diaries.

[@tonggao08]

I think the panel didnt get the question about compartmentalised friends. It's quite common to keep different friends separate, especially if they open up different parts of how you present yourself to them. They represent different manifestations of you if you are a chameleon/social shape-shifter and you may not want them to meet or interact.

[@brexitannia9703]

I have read Kenneth Williams dairys three times they are so interesting he was very honest I also wrote journals until I decided to bin them all because when I went back to read some it was like going back to ones own vomit. Kenneth was a very funny man yet such a tragic figure trapped and at times unhappy bogged down by his mother something I can relate to. He did what he had threatened to do in the end and saw himself out.

[@frglee]

In 1978, I had to stop the car at the traffic lights in Euston Road at Great Portland Street. Walking across the road in front of me, was the great Kenneth Williams, a little dapper man in a grey suit and coat, with a scowling grimace. Perhaps his proctological problems were bad. He'd have been 52 then, but looked rather older. He lived near Regents Park, apparently.

[@scottvincent1783]

He lived right opposite where you saw him, at the top of Great Portland Street opposite the church. The block has sadly now been knocked down and re named the Regents Quarter

[@jrgboy]

I saw him on the tube a couple of times, never spoke to him as he never looked approachable I did smile & he looked pleased at the recognition..

[@ThomasClark-bi1zz]

R.I.P Mr Williams. 36 years over since you have been gone. How time flies. I wish I had met you sir. ❤

[@ThomasClark-bi1zz]

R.I.P Mr Williams. 36 years over since you have been gone. How time flies. I wish i had of met you. ❤

[@CoachStephen]

Great work David. We met many years ago when you auditioned for Henry Lewis. I was known as 'lloyd' then

[@TruckOnTyke1]

Thanks for uploading this David - really enjoyable. Saw your show 'Think No Evil of Us' a couple of times and it was great.

[@Robutube1]

David Benson stepped up so quick-wittedly during the audio SNAFU's of "Crepe Suzette" - I was most impressed!

[@DavidBensonActor]

Thank you. The show must go on!

[@Randy_Batswinger]

"SNAFU's"?

[@Robutube1]

@@Randy_Batswinger Acronym (US Air Force origins I think): Situation Normal, All F'd Up. Used to indicate mistakes.

[@Randy_Batswinger]

​@Robutube1 Thank you. 🪖

[@iainholmes2735]

Great reading; brings the entries to life.

[@davidholmes3003]

What a wonderful performer he was - unique and much missed.

[@catmunk1]

I was in the audience at this event. A very interesting evening.

[@Sameoldfitup]

'Suffering is one very long moment. We cannot divide it by seasons. We can only record its moods, and chronicle their return.'' --- Oscar Wilde.

[@Patrick3183]

Wilde, Crisp, Willams

[@TheRowlandstone73]

One small correction would be that on 12th April 1969 (as mentioned at 44:04), Ken and Joan would've been filming Carry On Again Doctor, not Carry On Camping. Camping, which was obviously meant to be a summery, out-doorsy film, was famously shot in the cold and muddy conditions of October/November (1968).

[@jolankaschoppers1319]

I live in the Netherlands and i miss him to ❤️❤️

[@ptrck99]

Thank you so much for this.

[@NellieKite]

Wish Kenneth Williams diaries were on an audio book

[@davidevans3227]

wow, Kenneth Williams, Johnny Morris and Percy Edwards.. i'm a bit young, but i can imagine..

[@peterlivingstone]

"Frankie Howerd" at 22:51 is a particular joy.

[@Sameoldfitup]

Poor man RIP

[@Tom-nt9dz]

I'd love to have grabbed him by the lapels and shaken him, what the hell did he want for christ sakes? To be Guilgud? Richardson? We had those already and great at their craft as they were they were far more limited in range than he, could they stretch to a Carry On or hold an audience without a script as Kenneth did? We all know damn well Kenneth could effortlessly do what they did but his talents reached far further and no amount of 'high brow' achievement would have defined him or bottled his appeal/essence/talents Crass as the CO movies were (to him) they were the pinnacle of British comedy movies, cast with the regarded 'cream of the crop' headhunted specifically and he sat at the head of that table and that was due (and ONLY due) to who and what he was, as with Harry H Corbett and countless others I feel he couldn't see the woods for the trees, to be remembered for anything is a blessing few obtain in life yet as Corbett wiith Harold Steptoe or Kenny with either his CO or tv appearances we will be entertained by them long into the future, he will be loved and celebrated by 10-fold those who know about some old stuffy rendition of Hamlet, I wish someone could've articulated this to him sufficiently for him to see himself in true context and perhaps give himself a break

[@npc3po301]

well said

[@bethmccaff255]

Thank you for this, Mr Benson.

[@bethmccaff255]

Just wonderful.... I’d not heard before.... Just brilliant

[@victorgrasscourt3382]

What a shame there was no video of this event.

[@andrewlane801]

Thank you so much for uploading this discussion. Fascinating to hear the unpublished readings of the diary, and love the story of Lou and the "Famous Actress", wonder who it was?

[@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684]

Daisy Dormer, an Edwardian music hall singer. Lou was apparently her "launderess". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisy_Dormer

[@evonneashley7834]

Thank you for this

[@omnivorousbiped2447]

29:01 This is interesting, it's contradicts Kenneth's claims of always writing first thing in the morning.

[@Ben_Gunner]

Imagine if Kenneth watched this particular rendition of his life...im sure he would hsve something to say. Nothing worse then seeing somone make his uniqueness less somehow. Respect his craft and eloquence please.

[@Dirty_Hamble]

As this was eight years ago, has the archive been used by anybody to research a new biography or update a previous one? What a fascinating archive.

[@oldskoolfool141]

I understand the need for discretion for the concerns mentioned but it would be a shame to never get to read the unmutilated originals, fans who are familiar with Kenneths habit for hyperbole or flippant/damning assessment of others would know where the pinches of salt go

[@simonpenum]

Unfortunately we now live in an age defined by censorship. It may only be a matter of time before they destroy the source material itself so be happy with the morsels we have

[@daveenglish2]

Excellent insight into the mind set of a very much loved, talented & complex person. Is it possible to put "Think No Evil of Us" on KZbin ?

[@Mike8981]

Dear Nicholas P

[@baroncorvo3813]

An awful bore.

[@davidevans3227]

..i was wondering if Kenneth would love having his diary pored over by people at the great British Library.. 🙂

[@DavidBensonActor]

I am sure he would

[@freejulianassange3143]

Infamy!

[@georgielancaster1356]

@@DavidBensonActor I was LITERALLY starting to write that as I remembered, KW proposed to Joan Sims, when it was brought up!

[@michellemacquarrie9587]

💕

[@creamcheese3596]

Just read his diaries.......

[@tracyanne8616]

I wonder who KW left his diaries to? Is this something he would want done with them? To me he sounds like he was a complete bi polar. Very cruel man with his tongue, very funny as well of course. I honestly feel he created his own strange little prison which he could control. It was of his making. He was also a complete narcissist. All of those truly dreadful issues before they were ever known of, in those years, his homosexuality, repressed, just shrieked of an early death. All very nice for us the audience but terrible shame fir his own life.

[@dreadfulspiller8766]

Is there a video of this event?

[@DavidBensonActor]

Sadly, no

[@malcolmledger176]

Video not invented in 2016?

[@antoniod]

He didn't like the Two Ronnies?

[@kiltedjohn1000]

is the book heavily redacted ? i know its abridged but dont know by how much

[@kiltedjohn1000]

wow 15% only in the russell davis edition

[@Woodman-Spare-that-tree]

“Forty-free in total” 🙄

[@spherevision360]

Awful pronunciation

[@antoniod]

Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

[@quk9753]

You sound about 3 years old

[@pentuplove6542]

United Kingdom 1:00 Not Britain. It"s Great Britain.

[@peterhigginsson9875]

It's all a mess

[@Kandlelite]

ITS THE UNITED KINGDOM THATS WHAT THE PASSPORTS SAY !! UNITED KINGOM OF GREAT BRITAIN 🇬🇧

[@paulhough5941]

@@Kandlelite To be precise of course it’s the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. At least it is now but since leaving the EU, in a few years time it’ll probably revert to being just Britain as we can hardly call an amalgam of the Kingdom of England and the Principality of Wales as being Great.

[@musicbybackinnyc1]

44.36 lol

[@quk9753]

It’s theatre not fearter

[@yellowpete79]

Have you got aspergers? Its obviously an accent.

[@peterhigginsson9875]

That's southern dialect

[@spherevision360]

@@peterhigginsson9875No it’s not!

[@npc3po301]

It's a shame his father gets such cheap derision, Kenny was a one-off but Charlie didn't know that then, he just tried to be a dad telling his young lad to get a trade, even going to the trouble of sourcing and bringing him a pair of boxing gloves in the hope he'd learn to physically defend himself, hardly the stuff of monsters is it? But through the stereotypical catty gay lens he's been cast as some kind of figure of ridicule, rather sad really