Just A Minute

 
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Nyree Dawn Porter [Was: The Carte Blanche of Kenneth Williams]

Messages in this topic: 1
Clitheroe KidNov 8, 2010
 

 
Sadly, Nyree isn't in a position to sue, whatever we say in public or in
print now. If only she was...

I was actually booked to see her, live at the Ambassador's in Woking, and
looking forward to the play she was touring in. I was devastated when she
died the week before the tour reached Woking.

You hadn't mentioned that this incident occured so early on in the life of
'Just A Minute', something which makes me revise my original opinion. I can
understand that in the early days, when the show wasn't as well known as it
later became, a guest panellist might not be aware that Kenneth Williams
didn't always mean the things he said on the show.

Anyway, many thanks for clarifying the events in question.

Steve

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dean" <dbedford@...>
To: <just-a-minute@...>
Sent: Saturday, November 06, 2010 10:27 AM
Subject: Re: [just-a-minute] Nyree Dawn Porter [The Carte Blanche of Kenneth
Williams]


I have to bear much of the responsibility for the spreading of this story.
Years ago I mentioned on the website that a woman guest had walked out of a
recording once because they were upset by Kenneth’s remarks. I used to
regularly receive requests for more details which I politely declined for
some time. But one day I let the cat out of the bag and rather wish I hadn’
t. Why? Because I’m a journalist by profession and try not to make factual
claims that I wouldn’t be prepared to print under my name in a newspaper or
air on the radio. I don’t think my claim about Nyree Dawn Porter quite meets
that test and if I were publishing this in the paper, I would want to check
it a bit more.

But with that proviso, I’d say this – I would be happy to say that an
incident like this did occur, ie, a walk-out by a woman guest. It is
mentioned in one of the books about Kenneth and in some of the obits that
were written about him in 1988, and in other places. It also happens to
explain the odd number of recordings in the fourth season.

My information that it was Nyree comes second-hand. But it is a very good
source – you would be impressed if I named the person, who was present at
the recording. But I don’t have that person’s permission to name them, so I
won’t. Still, memories can play tricks over the years, hence my saying it’s
not quite as definite as the fact that there was a walk-out.

For those who say that she seems thick-skinned and/or that everyone knew
that Kenneth was just performing... I’m a very amiable polite person, but in
my working career I have been in situations where people burst into tears
because of things I said. I’ve been in tears because of things said to me
once or twice. It may be just not the words – sometimes people have had a
bad day – the cat’s died, they’ve had a bad argument with their partner,
they’ve missed out on a major part, they couldn’t sleep the previous night,
they’ve got a throbbing wisdom tooth. I think it is quite possible for
anyone to suddenly think they are just not in the right mood to take part in
a light-hearted game.

As for Kenneth, yes, as someone said in the thread, 90 percent of his antics
were for fun. Russell Davies says in the foreword to the diaries that
Kenneth was more likely to fall into a sullen silence and only speak when he
was asked to, if he was seriously annoyed with something.

Nevertheless, there isn’t much doubt that Kenneth could be difficult, both
professionally and personally. Professionally he did very little serious
work in the last 10 to 15 years of his life because he was known as
difficult to work with. Personally most of his friends say he could be
terribly rude and offensive to people.

So I don’t have the same doubts that the two Stevens have.



From: Clitheroe Kid
Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2010 10:57 PM
To: just-a-minute@...
Subject: [just-a-minute] Nyree Dawn Porter [The Carte Blanche of Kenneth
Williams]


I should hate to think this was true!

It sounds unlikely. Lots of women who appeared less thick-skinned than NDP
(such as Aimi Macdonald for instance) coped rather well with Kenneth's
tirades.

Dean, as the most knowledgeable person regarding the Just A Minute series,
do you happen to know (a) if such a thing did happen, and (b) if the person
concerned was actually Nyree Dawn Porter?

 
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