Following the publication of The Kenneth Williams Diaries, this is a collection of his letters. Corresponding with all manner of people, including Alec Guinness, Maggie Smith, Joe Orton, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, and the Stokers' Mess of HMS Leverton, the letters call forth the performer in Williams - many are virtual comic monologues. They evoke the likeable and constructive nature of a man who remains, neverthless as outrageous and difficult as ever.
Kenneth Williams was the stand-out comic actor of his generation. Beloved as the manic star of Carry On films and as a peerless raconteur on TV chat shows, he was also acclaimed for serious stage roles. Born Brilliant will include much previously unseen material from Williams's candid daily journal and also draw on rare in-depth interviews with friends and colleagues. Since the publication of edited extracts from his diaries, much controversy has surrounded Williams's personal and professional lives. This biography traces the complex contradictions that characterised an extraordinary life and presents the first full portrait of a star who was born brilliant.
To mark the 20th anniversary of Kenneth Williams’ death, a beautiful coffee table book celebrating his life, including never-before-seen photographs, sketches and personal testimony from Williams’ closest friends, for the very first time.
A collection of poems that explore the issues surrounding race relations in American society, told from the experience of Black, Native American, Asian, Arabic, Hispanic, and white cultures.
For more than 40 years broadcaster and comedian Kenneth Williams kept a journal of his experiences - this book is a one-volume selection of these diaries. In addition to offering conclusive evidence as to the nature of Williams' death in 1988, the diaries reveal different sides of his character.
For over forty years Kenneth Williams kept a completely private diary. After his death, rumours of its publication sent a shiver of dread through the theatrical world. This volume brings to light a complex and tormented personality, devastatingly honest and uninhibited about both himself and his fellow man.
The hitherto unpublished Dirk Bogarde - the best of his marvellous letters The success of John Coldstream's bestselling biography of Dirk Bogarde demonstrates that the interest in one of Britain's leading actors, memoirists and novelists does not diminish, even though it is a decade since his death. Bogarde was a secretive man, who destroyed many of his own papers and diaries. Fortunately, the recipients of his letters treasured them, enabling John Coldstream to bring together this fascinating collection of hitherto unpublished material. Bogarde wrote to each correspondent according to the nature of the friendship, but invariably he was frank, gossipy, funny and often malicious. The joy of writing, particularly as he grew older and chose to live in France, was never far away. The letters display the qualities familiar to those who knew the private Bogarde: acute observation, laser-like intelligence, impatience with the foolish, compassion for the needy, a relish for the witty metaphor, and a catastrophic disdain for correct spelling and punctuation. Above all, to read his letters is to hear him talk, and no conversation with Dirk Bogarde was dull. Recipients included the film director Joseph Losey, Bogarde's first publisher Norah Smallwood, the film critic Dilys Powell, and the novelist Penelope Mortimer.
This is Kenneth Williams' collection of his favourite barbed stories and malicious bon mots in an A to Z of unsurpassed cruelty, including cartoons by Graeme Garden and introduced by Gyles Brandreth who knew Williams for many years and is an executor of Williams' estate. Kenneth Williams is regarded as one of the great raconteurs and comedy actors of the century. His bestselling diaries, edited by Russell Davis, reveal a complex, deeply insecure character whose bitter, excoriating wit alienated just about everyone who crossed his path. The brilliantly crafted vitriol in his private diaries found life through his TV interviews and appearances on radio shows such as Just a Minute. These outbursts have made him synonymous with the wicked story and the caustic put down. Since his suicide in 1988, his popularity has grown. A two part Omnibus programme on his life appeared on ITV and a touring one man show of Williams' life has been playing to full houses for the last two years. Terry Johnson's play Cleo, Camping, Emanuelle and Dick, exploring Williams' relationship with Barbara Windsor and Sid James, ran to rave reviews and 'The Diaries' continue to sell.
