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Book Review - Kenneth Williams Unseen

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Dean BedfordNov 21, 2008
 

 
For the many Kenneth fans, a new book has been a long time coming. Since
his death in 1988, there has been just one biography, but since then the
release of collections of his dairies and letters have made that book
seem most inadequate. It's more than decade now since the release of new
material on Kenneth, so this book has been eagerly awaited.

"Kenneth Williams Unseen - the private notes, scripts and photographs"
is written by Wess Butters and Russell Davies. Wes is a broadcaster and
clearly a big fan. Russell edited the diary and letter collections and
also a broadcaster. And no, he's not the one who writes Doctor Who.

The book describes itself as a scrapbook and it is a bit like that.
Photos, notes, scripts, chunks of verbatim transcripts of interviews
conducted at different times stand alongside the text. That's not to say
the publication is anything but thoroughly handsome. This is a beautiful
book, stunningly well presented and illustrated. There are lots of
photos and if Kenneth was not a handsome man exactly, he was at least
someone who it seems it was impossible to take an uninteresting photo
of. He has a different expression in every picture.

The book begins with possibly the most interesting question about
Kenneth - did he kill himself? The chapter also covers the question that
has been mentioned in the papers and on this blog - was he in some way
connected to his father's death? Charlie Williams died after taking
poison. He and Kenneth did not get on.

For something that was the headline in the papers, there are only a few
lines devoted to the possibility that Kenneth poisoned his father. The
authors suggest that at one point the detectives investigating
considered whether Kenneth might at least have put the poison "in harm's
way" by switching bottles around. But the book says nothing came of that
line of enquiry. I think we can put the "Kenneth poisoned his dad" line
down to mere speculation.

As to his own death, the diaries have been taken by many, including me,
as evidence that Kenneth did plan to take his life and eventually when
the pain got too much, carried out his plan. The chapter has a good
chunk of close friends - including JAM co-stars Derek Nimmo and Sir
Clement Freud - doubting that scenario. Their line of argument is
essentially "I knew Kenneth well", that he wouldn't have left his mother
in the lurch and that he had an engagement the very next day and he
wasn't the sort to let someone down.

The last argument seems very dubious - if you have reached the point of
being suicidal, the fact you are booked for a TV ad seems unlikely to
boost your spirits sufficiently. But still, one accepts that for many
close friends, the suicide was out of character.

But the book contains new evidence in an interview with the man that
carried out the autopsy on Kenneth. The doctor makes two major points -
that the pills Kenneth took were of such variety and number that it is
hard to imagine anyone taking them by accident. Secondly that the
gastric ulcer he was suffering from would have been "extremely painful".
The book leaves you to draw your own conclusions but to me, the question
has been answered.

On the other issue around him, his sexuality and the inability to find
love, the book has less that is new.

But there is a large section on Just A Minute. There are a number of
quotes from Derek Nimmo which are fascinating. There is some of his
early correspondence with the BBC producer David Hatch, who may be
regarded as the father of Just A Minute, and arguably the man who did
most to make the show a success. JAM fans will want to read this part,
which includes some stats taken from this website. The authors make the
point that in the last part of his life JAM was the one continuing job
he had and was therefore very important to him. They also make the point
that Kenneth's influence on the programme can still be seen today, 20
years after his death.

This book makes you hunger for a new biography on Kenneth, pulling all
the strands together. It will have to be written soon as sadly Kenneth's
friends and family are becoming fewer in number. Davies may be the man
to write it. A final verdict on the suicide issue would be welcome, but
also there are so many questions about his professional career that
could do with examination. Why and how did a man who started out as such
a talented actor become something of a caricature, for example?

Butters' enthusiasm for the subject also shines through in the book.
There is a delightful segment at the end where Butters describes
breaking into Kenneth's old flat, now sadly under the demolition hammer.
A few bits of furniture, presumably not Kenneth's, are still there and
in the bathroom is the famous toilet which Kenneth protected for 16
years - now sadly in a million pieces.

This is a very good book. As I read it, I watched Kenneth's "Audience
With" DVD and marvelled again at the man's brilliance. the book suggests
it brings Kenneth back to life, but you do miss that voice.

If Kenneth was still alive he would doubtless be something of a national
icon. He'd probably still be doing chat shows, though these days with
the likes of Graham Norton and Jonathan Ross. And he'd still be on JAM,
bawling at Paul Merton for buzzing him, cuddling up to Clement and
Gyles, and dismissing Nicholas as a "great fool". This book revives his
memory even if it does leave us wanting more.

 
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