Kenneth Williams

Kenneth Williams (Kenneth Charles Williams, 1926–1988) was a cmic actor and comedian.

He was born in King's Cross, London. He joined the army aged 18, and first performed on stage with Combined Services Entertainment while stationed in Bombay.

His professional acting career started in 1948 in repertory theatre, but from 1954 he was appearing on BBC radio in Hancock's Half Hour. He appeared regularly in Keeneth Horne's Beyond our Ken from 1958 to 1964, and its successor Round the Horne from 1965 to 1968, playing a number of characters with funny voices. He is particularly remembered for the "Julian and Sandy" sketches, in which he played Sandy opposite Hugh Paddick as Julian. The pair were portrayed as a gay couple (homosexuality ws still illegal until 1967) and made much use of Polari.

From 1958 to 1978 he was a regular in the Carry On films, appearing in 26 of them, more than any other actor. He appeared regularly on Just a Minute on BBC Radio 4 from 1968 until his death.