Add to FavouritesAbout this Broadcast
Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor reminisce about some of the comedy series' best-loved moments, with clips featuring Carry On regulars Charles Hawtrey, Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Bernard Bresslaw, Joan Sims, Jim Dale and many others
1978
Comedy
Movie/Drama
Cast & Crew
Barbara Windsor
(Actor)
.. Herself/Various characters
Kenneth Williams
(Actor)
.. Himself/Various characters
Sid James
(Actor)
.. Various characters
Charles Hawtrey
(Actor)
.. Various characters
Hattie Jacques
(Actor)
.. Various characters
Jim Dale
(Actor)
.. Various characters
Joan Sims
(Actor)
.. Various characters
Bernard Bresslaw
(Actor)
.. Various characters
Gerald Thomas
(Director)
More Information
Did You Know..
Barbara Windsor
(Actor)
.. Herself/Various characters
Born:
August 06, 1937
in
London
Best Known For:
That naughty giggle.
Early-life:
Born Barbara-Ann Deeks in London on August 6, 1937, the only child of a dressmaker and a bus driver. Her mum worked extra hours to pay for elocution lessons. As a child, Babs loved singing and dancing and it was during a visit to the theatre with her grandfather that she decided on a showbusiness career, eventually adopting the stage name Barbara Windsor. She won her first stage role at the age of 12 in a London pantomime. In 1952 she got a job in the chorus of Love from Lucy and stayed in the show for two years. A number of minor film roles followed, but she remained largely a stage actress.
Career:
Two major film roles in 1962 - Death Trap and Sparrows Can't Sing - resulted in greater recognition, but it wasn't until stage show Fings Ain't What They Used to Be that Windsor found true fame. Her career really took off after her appearance in the comedy film Carry On Spying. Stereotyped as a glamorous dolly bird, she was seen as the ultimate Carry On girl and appeared in nine of the classic movies. In recent years, she has appeared in the long-running soap EastEnders, playing Peggy Mitchell and becoming a genuine soap icon. She left Walford in 2010, and since then has done panto and regularly stood in for Elaine Paige when she's been unavailable to host her Radio 2 show.
Quote:
"In my late 40s I found it difficult at casting interviews because people would still think I was as young as I appeared in the Carry Ons."
Trivia:
Windsor voiced the Dormouse in Tim Burton's film version of Alice in Wonderland.
Kenneth Williams
(Actor)
.. Himself/Various characters
Born:
February 22, 1926
in
London
Best Known For:
Being a member of the Carry On team.
Early-life:
Kenneth Charles Williams was born in London on February 22, 1926. He joined the Army in 1944 and first performed on stage in the Combined Services Entertainment alongside Stanley Baxter and Peter Nichols.
Career:
After leaving the Army, Williams landed work as a professional actor in repertory companies. On the strength of his performance in a production of Saint Joan, he was hired by a radio producer to do voice characterisations in radio comedy Hancock's Half Hour. His popularity on radio soared in the 1950s and 1960s when he starred with Kenneth Horne in Beyond Our Ken and Round the Horne. Williams also appeared in a number of revues on the stage in the West End, but he was best remembered for his comedy roles on the big screen in the Carry On films. He appeared in 25 of the Carry On films between 1958 and 1978. When the film work dried up, he became a regular on TV talk shows. He died on April 15, 1988 at the age of 62.
Quote:
His catchphrase: "Oh, stop messing about."
Trivia:
The posthumous publication of his diaries and letters caused controversy because he had criticised a number of his fellow performers.
Sid James
(Actor)
.. Various characters
Born:
May 08, 1913
in
Johannesburg, South Africa
Best Known For:
Being a member of the Carry On team.
Early-life:
Born Solomon Joel Cohen in Johannesburg, South Africa, on May 8, 1913. He trained and worked as a hairdresser before serving with the South African Army during the Second World War. Determined to be an actor, he left for England in 1946 and worked in repertory theatre before he started making his mark on the British film industry.
Career:
James became known in the film trade as `one-take James" and was constantly in demand for small parts. His first major role was alongside Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway in The Lavender Hill Mob (1951). His first big break came in 1954, when he became Tony Hancock's sidekick in the hugely popular BBC radio comedy Hancock's Half Hour. His next break came when he appeared on the big screen in Carry On Teacher (1959). He went on to make 19 Carry On films and various stage and TV spin-offs. On the small screen, he enjoyed success in the sitcoms Hancock's Half Hour, Citizen James, George and the Dragon and Bless This House. He was touring in a stage version of The Mating Season when he suffered a fatal heart attack on April 26, 1976. He was 62.
Quote:
"All I can do is play myself."
Trivia:
James's well-publicised affair with Carry On co-star Barbara Windsor was dramatised in the 1998 stage play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick, and the 2000 TV adaptation Cor, Blimey! His trademark in the Carry On films was his dirty laugh.
Charles Hawtrey
(Actor)
.. Various characters
Born:
November 30, 1914
in
Hounslow
Best Known For:
The Carry On films.
Early-life:
Born George Frederick Joffre Hartree in Hounslow on November 30, 1914. He made his stage debut at the age of 11 playing a street Arab in The Windmill Man. He went on to study acting at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. He took his stage name from Edwardian actor Sir Charles Hawtrey and for a time suggested they were related.
Career:
Hawtrey went on to appear in a number of stage roles and this led to parts on radio, notably during Children's Hour in the 1940s in the Norman and Henry Bones, and Just William. After making his TV debut in The Army Game in the late 1950s, he starred in his first Carry On film, Carry on Sergeant (1958). He became synonymous with the comedies and went on to appear in 23 of the films. Despite not making another film after Carry on Abroad (1972), Hawtrey continued to work regularly on radio, TV and the stage. His last TV appearance was in an episode of children's series Supergran in 1987. He died on October 27, 1988, at the age of 73.
Quote:
Catchphrase: "Oh hello!"
Trivia:
Hawtrey devoted a lot of his life to drinking and smoking.
Hattie Jacques
(Actor)
.. Various characters
Jim Dale
(Actor)
.. Various characters
Joan Sims
(Actor)
.. Various characters
Born:
May 09, 1930
in
Essex
Best Known For:
Her roles in the Carry On films.
Early-life:
Irene Joan Marion Sims was born in Essex on May 9, 1930. She was the daughter of a railway station master and would often put on performances for waiting passengers. After failing a number of auditions, she was finally accepted into Rada and graduated in 1950.
Career:
Sims went on to appear in a number of farces at Brian Rix's Aldwych Theatre but she preferred working on films. She made her first appearance on the big screen in 1953 opposite George Cole in Will Any Gentleman? She followed this up with roles in Trouble in Store and Doctor in the House. She continued her run in comedy films when she was offered a part in Carry On Nurse. She went on to become a regular in the Carry On series, appearing in 24, including Carry On Screaming, Carry On Henry, and Carry On Camping. After the Carry On films ended in 1978, Sims became a regular face on TV, making appearances in Worzel Gummidge, In Loving Memory, Doctor Who, Farrington of the F.O., Simon and the Witch, On the Up, As Time Goes By, and The Last of the Blonde Bombshells. She died on June 27, 2001, at the age of 71.
Quote:
"Men are put off by funny women."
Trivia:
Years of heavy drinking took their toll and she suffered with ill health in her later years. She had difficulty working with Frankie Howerd because they could not stop laughing.
Bernard Bresslaw
(Actor)
.. Various characters
Born:
February 25, 1934
in
London
Best Known For:
Being a member of the Carry On team.
Early-life:
Born in London on February 25, 1934, Bernard became interested in acting after going to the Hackney Empire. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada). After appearing in Education Archie on radio and The Army Game on TV, a number of roles on the small screen followed until his big break came when he starred in Carry on Cowboy in 1965.
Career:
Bresslaw went on to star in 14 Carry On films, including Carry On.. Up the Khyber, Carry on Camping, Carry on Abroad, and Carry On Screaming! Other films included Jabberwocky (1977), Krull (1983) and Leon the Pig Farmer (1992). On the stage, he appeared in a number of pantomimes and also performed with the Young Vic Theatre Company, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. He died of a heart attack at the age of 59 on June 11, 1993, the day after fellow comedy actor Les Dawson.
Quote:
Catchphrase: "I only arsked".
Trivia:
Away from acting, Bresslaw wrote poetry.
Gerald Thomas
(Director)
