Book description
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.
2008 marks the 20th anniversary of the death of legendary comic actor
and broadcaster Kenneth Williams. Among the actor's bequests, in a will
which itself was controversial enough to require re-examination, was a
large cache of private papers and memorabilia inherited by his godson,
Robert Chiddell, and subsequently acquired by the broadcaster and
Williams fanatic, Wesley Butters.
This material, none of which has been seen before, includes scripts and
drafts by Williams, lectures and speeches delivered by him (to an
audience of policemen, in a couple of cases), a large number of superb
photographs from all phases of his career, and creative writing which
even extends to a fictional recreation of his own turbulent Cockney childhood.
Without ever arranging it formally Williams had unwittingly assembled a
brilliant scrapbook of his life. Kenneth Williams Unseen is that
scrapbook, enlarged and emboldened by contributions from those who knew
and loved him and is a must for every fan of the great man himself. This
is the first authorised book on Williams in over a decade and will
re-define the Williams legacy. Russell Davies is a freelance writer
and broadcaster. A former film and TV critic of the Observer and TV
critic of the Sunday Times, he has also written a column on sport for
the Sunday Telegraph. He has presented many literary and political
features on TV and radio (including a history of radio comedy).
Wes Butters made a name for himself in radio as the ninth host of BBC
Radio 1's Sunday chart show. He won numerous awards, including a Sony,
for his breakfast show at Galaxy Manchester. In April 2008 Wes wrote and
produced the two-part documentary The Pain of Laughter - The Last Days
of Kenneth Williams for BBC Radio 4.
