[36], In April 2008 Radio 4 broadcast the two-part The Pain of Laughter: The Last Days of Kenneth Williams. (directed at Sheila Hancock, Aimi MacDonald and others). When Hancock steered his show away from what he considered gimmicks and silly voices, Williams found he had less to do. Ascher has composed (or co-composed) jingles for: Many of Ascher's jingle compositions were (i) produced by Sunday Productions (Hilary Jay Lipsitz, born 1933, president), (ii) published by Ahoskie Music, Inc. (Hilary Jay Lipsitz, president), and (iii) licensed by ASCAP. Failure to become a serious dramatic actor disappointed him, but his potential as a comic performer gave him his break when he was spotted playing the Dauphin in Bernard Shaw's St Joan in the West End, in 1954 by radio producer Dennis Main Wilson. Both Williams and Ascher received Oscar nominations for the 1979 Academy Awards for Best Original Song and Best Original Score.

While Williams was clearly attracted to Waine, the friendship remained platonic. Kenneth introduced them both to Swinging London and he enjoyed the frisson of arriving at debauched parties with two 21-year-old men, one of them fey and elegant, and the other raffish and working-class.". When the war ended he was in Singapore, and he opted to transfer to the Combined Services Entertainment Unit, which put on revue shows. The following day, Charlie died and, an hour after being given the news, Kenneth went on stage in the West End.

Kenneth Lee Ascher is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger who is active in jazz, rock, classical, and musical theater genres — in live venues, recording studios, and cinema production.

[32], He died on 15 April 1988 in his flat; his last words (recorded in his diary) were "Oh, what's the bloody point?

The 43 volumes found in Williams's flat on the day he died now belong to his friend and legatee Paul Richardson. [5], Williams stated in his diaries that he believed he had Welsh ancestors due to his parents' surnames. Biographer Christopher Stevens has uncovered the depth of the star's friendship with a young gay couple who have never spoken publicly before and who were witness to Williams's long and bitter struggle with his sexual identity. He often privately criticised and "dripped vitriol" upon the films, considering them beneath him, even though he continued to appear in them. [51], For other people named Kenneth Williams, see, CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (, GRO Register of Births: March 1926 1b 408 Islington – Kenneth C. Williams, sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFStevens2010 (, GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1988 14 1873 CAMDEN – Kenneth Charles Williams, DoB = 22 February 1926 aged 62, "BFI Screenonline: Williams, Kenneth (1926–1988) Biography", "The Lyulph Stanley Boys' Central Council School", "Lyulph Stanley School, Camden Street: corner of Camden Street and Plender Street", "iTunes – Music – One Over the Eight (Original London Cast) by Various Artists", "Kenneth Williams | Britmovie | Home of British Films", "Review: Born Brilliant: The life of Kenneth Williams by Christopher Stevens", "Barbara Windsor, Kenneth Williams, and the cast of Carry On: what happened next? The Welsh actor Michael Sheen portrayed Williams. In his diaries, Williams wrote that he earned more in a St Ivel advert than for any Carry On film, although he was still earning the average Briton's annual salary in a month for the latter. [30], Williams rarely revealed details of his private life, though he spoke openly to Owen Spencer-Thomas in 1977 about his loneliness, despondency and sense of underachievement in two half-hour documentary programmes entitled Carry On Kenneth. He frequently got into arguments with host Nicholas Parsons and other guests on the show. Williams left an estate worth just under £540,000 (equivalent to £1,458,600 in 2019). He tells Stevens that Williams was unable to take in what had happened. Benson reprised his performance at the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe and continues to tour. Williams also appeared in West End revues including Share My Lettuce with Maggie Smith, written by Bamber Gascoigne, and Pieces of Eight with Fenella Fielding. [34] His diaries reveal that he had often had suicidal thoughts and some of his earliest diaries record periodic feelings that there was no point in living. [17] The films were commercially successful but Williams claimed the cast were poorly paid. Despite this, he spoke fondly of the Carry Ons in interviews.